BILLINGS, Mont. – Coming off a 1-1 week that saw the Montana State University Billings volleyball team (9-8, 3-5 GNAC) snap a three-match losing skid, the Yellowjackets will remain at home for another pair of 7 p.m. Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches including their annual “Dig Pink Night” on Saturday, Oct. 15. MSUB will first welcome the Wildcats of Central Washington University to Alterowitz Gymnasium on Thursday, Oct. 13 before the Crusaders of Northwest Nazarene University travel to Billings for the “Dig Pink Night” on Saturday.
 
MSUB commenced last week by dropping a 3-0 match to Western Washington University before the Yellowjackets ended the week with their own 3-0 victory over the Clan of Simon Fraser University Saturday night. MSUB is currently 3-1 at home this season and currently seventh in the league standings.
 
So far this season, the Yellowjackets have held their opponents to a .175 hitting percentage but are only managing to hit .159 themselves heading into this week's contests.
 
MSUB's defense is doing well, having corralled in a total of 1072 digs while the front row has registered a total of 133 blocks so far compared to 104 blocks by the opposition.
 
Seven Yellowjackets have tallied double-digits in total blocks this season with Melissa Porter leading the way with 55 total blocks. Monica Grimsrud has a team-high nine solo blocks to Porter's eight during the 2011 campaign.
 
A freshman, Grimsrud continues to pace the Yellowjacket attack with 229 kills (3.47 per set) but Krista Norris and Porter are both improving with Norris having recorded 121 kills (2.42 per set) and Porter registering 134 (2.20 per set).
 
Senior Brooke Tolman is currently on pace to break into the top-10 for most assists in a season as she currently has 642 assists for the season and needs 322 more to surpass Kristen Janney for 10^th. It is not an insurmountable number as Tolman needs to average 8.05 assists per set based on MSUB finishing the last 10 matches of the season in four sets, right on pace for the number of sets per match the Yellowjackets are averaging and almost two assists less than her current average of 9.73 per set.
 
CWU enters the week with a record of 10-7 overall and are currently 4-5 in league play, sitting sixth in the conference. The Wildcats are currently hitting .217 while their opposition is hitting .195.
 
Northwest Nazarene is currently 9-5 overall and 6-3 in the conference. The Crusaders will visit Seattle Pacific on Thursday before traveling to Billings to challenge the Yellowjackets for MSUB's “Dig Pink Night.” NNU is currently on a two-match winning streak having defeated both Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks last week that vaulted them into fourth in the conference.
 
All fans are encouraged to wear pink for “Dig Pink Night” on Saturday. The MSUB volleyball team has been selling raffle tickets for “Dig Pink Night” at all home events with the proceeds going to the St. Vincent Healthcare's Eva Project.
 
Raffle tickets can be purchased at the rate of $5 for one and $20 for five. Raffle items include $25 to Bues BBQ, $75 to Geyser Park, two rounds of golf at Pryor Creek Golf Course, a Felicia Sanchez Breast Health Awareness Cake, and a one-night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn with $25 to Old Chicago.