BILLINGS, Mont. – The 2014 MSU Billings volleyball team has one more weekend of play as the Yellowjackets make a final road trip trek to the West Coast to face the Saints and Wolves this Thursday and Saturday.
Montana State University Billings is now 11-14 and 6-10 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Yellowjackets are on a two match slide after falling to fellow GNAC competition Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington last week.
"The team is working very hard this week in practice so we can finish the season strong," head coach
Lisa Axel said. "It is never easy to play on the road in the GNAC and this weekend will be no different. We want to consistently play at a high level for our last two matches and bring a lot of energy to the court."
This week's contests feature the two lowest-ranked teams in the GNAC, but MSU Billings will have to stand tough in order to come out on top. With the end of the season drawing to a close, the Yellowjackets are looking to their seniors and team leadership to come out with two wins on the road.
Thursday, November 13 – 7 p.m. Marcus PavilionLive stats/video: msubsports.comSaint Martin's Saints 2014 Record: 4-24, 1-15 GNACHead Coach: Kara Peterson2013 GNAC Finish: 7-23, 3-15 GNAC The Saints have won just one GNAC contest this season - against Western Oregon on Oct. 25, and have dropped the last 12 conference matches since.
With 2.94 kills per set, No. 11 in the GNAC, SMU's Kristyn Ross is the top offensive threat from Saint Martin's. Behind Ross is Kyra Davidson averaging 1.59 kills per set.
Davidson is ranked No. 4 in the GNAC in blocks with 1.09 per set.
At the libero position Jessica Riddle is averaging 4.07 digs and is No. 6 in service aces in the GNAC with a 0.29 average per set.
The Series: MSUB is 13-4 against the Saints and 4-3 on the road.
Last meeting: The Yellowjackets won 3-2 on Sept. 18.
MSUB: Chelsey Walter came through with 16 kills while sophomore
Stormy Siemion completed a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs.
Monica Grimsrud also had 13 kills.
Haley Wells led the match in digs with 21.
SMU: Ross had a huge match coming in with 28 kills and nine digs for the Saints. Brenna Peterson came up with 48 assists for SMU.
Saturday, November 15 – 7 p.m. - P.E. BuildingLive stats/video: msubsports.comWestern Oregon Wolves2014 Record: 4-20, 2-14 GNACHead Coach: Brad Saindon2013 GNAC Finish: 10-18, 7-11 GNAC Western Oregon lost both of its matches last week to Simon Fraser and nationally-ranked Western Washington, but both were close matches. The Wolves took SFU to five sets, nearly coming up with the upset in Burnaby, B.C. Western Oregon had a better team hitting percentage against the Clan, but 12 service errors in the match proved to be costly down the stretch.
Last week Alisha Bettinson had 20 kills and 20 digs for the Wolves. The redshirt freshman has been big for WOU lately and is now third on the team in kills per set with 1.64
Hannah Deede is ranked in the top-20 in the GNAC in kills per set (2.33) and blocks (0.83). The senior outside hitter continues to be the steadying force for Western Oregon's attack.
Senior Samantha Moore is ranked No. 6 in the GNAC in blocks with 1.03 per set. Moore had eight block assists in the team's last two matches, including six against Simon Fraser.
There has been a change at the libero position since that last time MSU Billings played Western Oregon – outside hitter Christie Colasurdo has moved into the position for the team's last six matches. Colasurdo registered 67 digs, one kill, six assists, and one service ace in last week's two matches en route to being named the GNAC's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week. The previous outside hitter tallied the ninth-most digs in a five-set GNAC match against Simon Fraser (42) and has 133 total digs in the those six matches. At the libero position, over the course of the six matches, Colasurdo is averaging 22.2 digs per set.
The Series: MSU Billings is 5-14 against the Wolves. The team is 1-7 on the road against WOU.
Last meeting: MSUB completed a straight set victory against Western Oregon on Sept. 16.
MSUB: Grimsrud was the offensive leader for the Yellowjackets with 11 kills. Siemion had nine and Walter eight.
Mataia Roderick led MSUB in digs with 14 and Wells came in with 13.
Kyndal Williams put up 30 assists in the contest.
WOU: Deede was the only player from WOU with double-digit in kills – she had 10. Jaryn Ramos completed 11 digs and Colasurdo 10.
Although MSU Billings lost both matches at home last weekend, the Yellowjackets did pick up a big win the week before. MSUB won a road contest in Seattle against Seattle Pacific in straight sets, and the Yellowjackets are looking to use that ability again as the team heads out on the last road trip of the season.
MSUB's
Chelsey Walter is leading the GNAC in hitting percentage (.330) for the sixth consecutive week.
Walter has 269 kills on the year, almost twice as many as No. 2 in the GNAC Erin Braun from Alaska Anchorage who has 138 kills with a .327 hitting percentage.
Alaina Gentili is No. 16 in the GNAC in blocks with 0.83 per set. The freshman is now No. 12 in the conference in hitting percentage with .251, the only other Yellowjacket to be ranked in the top-25 besides Walter.
Williams is No. 4 in the GNAC in assists with 10.45 per set. Wells is No. 7 in digs, averaging 4.26 per set.
In the conference, Northwest Nazarene has clinched the GNAC regular season title with a 16-1 record. Last week, NNU was also No. 1 in the West Region with No. 2 Alaska Anchorage, No. 4 Western Washington, and No. 5 Central Washington also in the top-10. The west region championships will be played Nov. 20-22.
| VOLLEYBALL | CONF | PCT | OVERALL | PCT | HOME | AWAY | NEUTRAL | STREAK |
| x-Northwest Nazarene | 16-1 | .941 | 23-2 | .920 | 9-0 | 8-2 | 6-0 | W10 |
| Alaska Anchorage | 14-2 | .875 | 20-4 | .833 | 9-2 | 9-1 | 2-1 | W3 |
| Western Washington | 12-4 | .750 | 19-6 | .760 | 9-1 | 4-4 | 6-1 | W2 |
| Central Washington | 12-5 | .706 | 19-6 | .760 | 11-1 | 6-4 | 2-1 | W5 |
| Simon Fraser | 10-6 | .625 | 16-8 | .667 | 10-3 | 4-4 | 2-1 | W2 |
| Montana State Billings | 6-10 | .375 | 11-14 | .440 | 8-6 | 2-6 | 1-2 | L2 |
| Seattle Pacific | 5-11 | .313 | 11-13 | .458 | 6-7 | 3-5 | 2-1 | L5 |
| Alaska | 3-13 | .189 | 3-21 | .125 | 2-9 | 1-10 | 0-2 | L2 |
| Western Oregon | 2-14 | .125 | 4-20 | .167 | 1-6 | 3-7 | 0-6 | L2 |
| Saint Martin's | 1-15 | .063 | 4-24 | .143 | 1-9 | 1-10 | 2-5 | L12 |
| x-clinched tie for conference title. |
