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BILLINGS, Mont. – Down in the fourth set, Melissa Porter registered a couple of booming kills to keep the Montana State University Billings volleyball team alive, giving the Yellowjackets the surge they needed to keep the Wolves at bay as MSUB downed Western Oregon University 3-2 Saturday night inside Alterowitz Gymnasium in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

 

The two teams traded the lead in each set several times, and it was only fitting that three of the five sets went long as MSUB claimed the first set 26-24 before WOU took the second and third sets 25-22 and 28-26. MSUB bounced back from the long third set with another 26-24 win in the fourth set and then put the match away with a 15-13 fifth set victory.

 

With their second home victory in a row, the Yellowjackets are now 8-5 overall and an even 2-2 in league play while the Wolves are now 3-7 and 2-3 in the GNAC.

 

“Overall I'm happy with the win, it's a quality win over a quality opponent,” said head coach Steve Smith. “There were a couple sets where we were leading and let them tighten back up on us to where they were able to capitalize and take it to five sets. But that's the great thing about a five-set match, anything can happen.”

 

Monica Grimsrud was lights out as she registered a solid double-double with a match-high 26 terminations and 11 digs to lead the Yellowjackets with a stout .400 hitting percentage (26-of-50) while Porter registered 11 kills of her own.

 

Brooke Tolman also recorded a double-double, her eighth in a row, as she dished out 54 assists and corralled in 17 digs. Morgan Moss corralled in a team-high 20 digs to lead MSUB's defense.

 

Four different Wolves finished with double-digit kills as Danielle Reese led the way for WOU with 21 kills and 12 digs while Corynn Kopra registered her own double-double with 12 kills and 18 digs.

 

As a team, MSUB was able to record a solid .200 hitting percentage, holding WOU to a hitting percentage of .174. The Yellowjackets recorded 15 total blocks with Chelsey Walter and Jody Lutz recording a match-high two solo blocks each.

 

The Yellowjackets will hit the road once again next week as they travel up to Alaska to challenge the two University of Alaska teams, Fairbanks and Anchorage, on Thursday, Sept. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 1. Both road matches are slated to start at 7 p.m.