BILLINGS, Mont. -- The Montana State University Billings' volleyball team opens the 2013 season at the Seaside Invitational hosted by Point Loma University in San Diego, Calif. The Yellowjackets play four games Friday and Saturday against NCAA Div. II competition.
PRESEASON NOTES
* This will be the 34th season of Yellowjacket volleyball.
*
Lisa Axel returns for her second season at the helm of MSUB volleyball.
* The Yellowjackets finished 11-15 overall last season.
* MSU Billings finished tied for sixth in the GNAC with an 8-10 record.
* Montana State Billings lost six letterwinners, but return seven.
* MSUB welcomes back four starters, while losing two and a libero.
*
Monica Grimsrud ranked fourth in kills and fifth in points in the GNAC last season, and is the highest player returning in those statistical categories.
* Grimsrud was named honorable mention All-GNAC last season.
*
Kyndal Williams ranked fourth in the GNAC in assists averaging 10.01, the top returning player in that statistical category.
* Williams' 961 assists in her freshman season puts her 10th on the MSUB assists in a career list.
* Montana State Billings was selected sixth in the GNAC preseason poll.
* The Yellowjackets' 40 points in the preseason poll was the second most since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007.
THE FIRST SERVE
* The Yellowjackets are 16-13 in season-opening matches since 1984.
* They have lost five of their last six season-opening matches.
* The Yellowjackets are also 25-19 on opening day since 1984.
* Montana State Billings returns to California for the first time since 2008.
* MSUB is 5-16 in the Golden State since 1984.
* The Yellowjackets have lost eight straight matches in California.
* The last MSU Billings' victory in California was a five-set win over Christian Heritage on Sept. 5, 1998.
* Last season, the Yellowjackets were 3-0 in five-set matches.
* MSUB is 7-3 in its last 10 five-set matches.
YELLOWJACKETS OPEN AT SIX
At the end of the 2012 season, the Montana State University Billings' volleyball team finished tied for sixth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings. The team begins 2013 in that same position, being picked sixth in the GNAC coaches' preseason poll. The Yellowjackets tallied 40 points in the poll, the second most since the program joined the conference. In its first season in the GNAC in 2007, MSU Billings was picked fourth in the poll with 64 points. MSUB has not been higher than sixth in the preseason poll since then. This is the third time the Yellowjackets have been picked sixth in the poll.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Montana State Billings opens the tournament against Cal State-Stanislaus. It will be the first of two meetings in a seven-day span with the Warriors for MSU Billings. CSUS went 9-21 overall last season, and 6-16 in the difficult California Collegiate Athletic Association. It will be the second meeting all-time between the schools, with the last coming in 2008, a three-set loss at the Seawolf Spike in Rohnert Park, Calif. Jaclyn Pinasco returns for her senior season after averaging 2.64 digs per set last season. Fourteen of the 16 players on the team are underclassmen, including 14 freshmen.
ABOUT THE SEA LIONS
That same night, the Yellowjackets play the host Sea Lions. PLNU went 10-17 last year, and 6-10 in the PacWest Conference. It will be the first ever meeting between the programs. The Point Loma women's volleyball team has been picked to finish sixth in the Pacific West Conference in 2013, according to the preseason coaches' poll. The Sea Lions return 12 members from their 2012 team. Point Loma sophomore OH Kelli LeClair, who averaged 3.71 kills, 2.51 digs and 4.15 points per set last year, was named to the Preseason All-PacWest Team. She was a 2012 All-PacWest Third selection last year.
ABOUT THE COUGARS
The following day, MSUB faces newly Div. 2 program, Azusa Pacific. The Cougars posted 22 wins last season, along with a 10-6 season in the PacWest. This is the second meeting all-time between MSUB and APU. The Yellowjackets swept Azusa Pacific in 1998 at a tournament in Irvine, Calif. The Cougars were ranked fourth in the PacWest preseason conference poll. APU returns a pair of All-Conference honorees. Ashley Vander Tuig was named All-PacWest third-team during her freshman season as a middle blocker. Joy Reinke was honorable mention as an outside hitter last year as a freshman.
ABOUT THE TOROS
The final match of the tournament for MSU Billings will be the third meeting all-time with Cal State-Dominguez Hills. Coming off a historic season that signaled the rise of the Cal State Dominguez Hills volleyball program under reigning CCAA Coach of the Year Jennifer Adeva, a vote of the league coaches predicts that the Toros will finish sixth in the 12-team league, with CSUDH earning one first-place vote. Second-team All-CCAA selections in senior middle Whitney Lee and senior outside Elizabeth Krieger lead an experienced and talented nucleus that includes senior middle Abbey Prusa and a sophomore duo in setter Dana Brown and libero Korryne Kelley, as well as a skilled quintet of newcomers.
