GNAC WEEKLY REPORT

BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings' volleyball team has an opportunity to get back into the win column and pick up an upset over a Top 25 nationally-ranked team this week.

The Yellowjackets (8-10, 5-5 GNAC) have lost four of their last six matches, including three of the last four. But, MSUB has an excellent chance to gain some confidence with a match at No. 22 Central Washington Thursday. MSU Billings is coming off of a three-set loss at Seattle Pacific last Saturday, while CWU rebounded off a loss at No. 12 Western Washington that ended a nine-match win streak with a five-set win at Simon Fraser.

The Wildcats (15-5, 9-2 GNAC) and MSUB played an extended three-set match on Sept. 29 in Billings. Central Washington swept the Yellowjackets in a match that lasted an hour and 46 minutes. Each one of the three sets went beyond 25 points for CWU, 26-24, 31-29, and 30-28. Central Washington's Catie Fry had a match-high 40 assists. Marcy Hjellum finished with a double-double, with a match-high 17 kills and 19 digs. Kaely Kight added 12 digs. Kaitlin Quirk was in on four blocks.

In three sets that could have gone either way, the Wildcats had a slim 49-48 kill advantage. Central Washington finished with a .196 to .127 hitting percentage lead over MSUB. The match featured 44 ties and 24 lead exchanges. Three Yellowjackets had double-digit kills, led by Monica Grimsrud's 12. Jody Lutz and Chelsey Walter added 11 and 10 kills. Kyndal Williams finished with 39 assists. Erin Compton had 27 digs.

The conference's second and third best defensive specialists square off Thursday. MSU Billings' Erin Compton is eighth in NCAA Div. II averaging 5.8 digs per set, while Central Washington's Kight is averaging 5.08 digs per set which is 28th in the country. Erin Smith is also 28th in the nation in hitting percentage at .358. The Yellowjackets have lost five straight to CWU and two of the 12 all-time meetings.

Saturday, Montana State Billings travels to Nampa, Idaho, to face Northwest Nazarene. The Crusaders have dropped five of the past six, and seven of the last nine. NNU dropped a pair of road matches last week at Simon Fraser in five sets and a three-set decision at No. 12 Western Washington.

MSUB knocked off Northwest Nazarene (10-12, 3-8) earlier this season in Billings. In the five-set thrilling match, NNU finished with a just a slightly higher hitting percentage .123 to .122, while both sides had 53 kills. MSU Billings had a 51-48 assist advantage. The match included 24 ties and eight lead changes.

Williams led the Yellowjackets with a double-double. The freshman finished with 46 assists and 10 digs. Three Yellowjackets finished in double-digit kills led by 17 from Grimsrud. Walter and Lutz had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Compton had a team-high 15 digs. Grimsrud added six blocks. Three Crusaders finished in double digits in kills. Kaitlyn Tuholski had 14, Becky Flores had 11, and Rice had 10. Michelle Terpstra finished with 43 assists, while Linnea Phillips had 20 digs. Tuholski added 12 digs. Tuholski and Flores were both in on six blocks.

In last week's setbacks, Terpstra totaled 23 kills, 45 assists and 20 digs for the Crusaders. NNU is fifth in the conference in hitting percentage and kills per set. Terpstra is ninth in the GNAC in hitting percentage at .289, and seventh in assists per set at 9.0. Phillips' 4.83 digs per set is fifth in the conference.

Thursday's start time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Pacific Time, while Saturday is 7 p.m. Mountain Time. Live video and stats will be available on MSUBSports.com.