Box Score

LACEY, Wash. – The Montana State Billings volleyball team finally got over the hump Thursday evening as it won its first match of the season in come-back fashion with a 3-2 (24-26, 20-25, 25-20, 25-13, 15-13) victory at Saint Martin's University.  With the win, the Yellowjackets improved to 1-10 overall and 1-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while SMU fell to 1-9 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

“We saw glimpses of what we could do tonight,” head coach Steve Smith said.  “We also saw what we hope is the future of Geneva Blunt with 19 kills, two errors and six blocks.  Jen (Boe) really helped get us through the final three games and had the game-winning swing.” 

Sophomore Geneva Blunt led the way with a game-high 19 kills and just two errors as she hit a team-high .472 for the Jackets.  Senior Jennifer Boe tallied 13 kills, seven errors and 20 digs as she hit .125.  Boe had four kills and six errors through the first two games, but cleaned up down the stretch with just one error in the final three games.  Junior Brooke Tolman tallied a match and season-high 50 assists on the night.

Freshman Adrienne Kelso, starting her second consecutive match at the libero position, tallied a match-high 24 digs.

As a team, the Yellowjackets hit a season-best .275 for the match and tallied a season-high 61 kills to go along with a season-best 58 assists.  The Saints were led by 14 kills from Kirstyn Druzianich, while Kristeen Juarez led the team with 49 assists and Brianna Bautista led with 16 digs. 

MSUB committed 14 of its 20 errors in the first two sets alone and hit .147 and .206, respectively.  SMU tallied just seven of 25 errors in the first two sets, hitting .273 and .257, respectively.  SMU won the first set 26-24 and the second 25-20 for a 2-0 lead at intermission.

“A lot of it was getting over that hump psychology and we came out of the break and we didn't let it get to us down 2-0,” Smith said.  “We worked really hard and got back into the match.  We are glad we got the monkey off our back and we are looking forward to a good match at Western Oregon on Saturday.”

MSUB came out on fire in game three as it hit a whopping .469 for the set with 17 kills and just two errors for a 25-20 win.  Set four saw the Jackets pour it on to the tune of a 25-13 win, committing just one error in the set and hit .455.

The decisive fifth set saw the Saints jump out to an early lead on three consecutive Yellowjacket miscues.  MSUB didn't panic as it rattled off a run of 11-5, building an 11-8 lead.  The Saints cut the deficit to 14-13 on a kill from Sarah Gann, but after a Yellowjacket timeout, Boe tallied the winning kill.