Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – After a four-set battle Friday against Fresno Pacific, MSU Billings came out swinging against Academy of Art on the last day of the PacWest/GNAC cross-over tournament. The Yellowjackets won the first set with a balanced attack at the net and solid defense, but the Urban Knights bounced back after being a set down to win the next three sets, and the match. MSU Billings lost its fourth and last match of the tournament 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, and 14-25.
 
The Yellowjackets were held to a .176 attack percentage while AAU finished with a .279. Both teams had several service aces, MSUB had eight, and AAU nine.
 
Senior Krista Norris had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs for MSUB and Chelsey Walter and Monica Grimsrud both had 13 kills at the net. The defense was spread out as Norris with 10, and Haley Wells and Mataia Roderick with 11, all finished in the double-digits in digs for MSU Billings.
 
Behind a balanced attack at the net, the Yellowjackets came out firing in the first set. Both teams traded points, but it was Academy of Art (5-2) which had to call a timeout first after two solid points at the net gave the Yellowjackets a 18-16 lead late in the set.
 
Montana State University Billings (5-3) used a kill by Norris and an ace by Wells to win the first set 25-19.
 
The Yellowjackets had the early lead in set two, when AAU put up a block at the net to tie the game at 12-12. Two more blocks by AAU had the Urban Knights up by two points.
 
MSUB's Grimsrud gave the ball back to the Yellowjackets with a kill to regain the lead 18-17. The teams continued to trade points. Walter laid down a hard hit to pull MSUB to within one at 22-23, but two hard hits by Melissa Brum from AAU tied the match at 1-1.
 
MSUB found itself down several times in set three, but managed to fight its way back into the match several times. A well-timed set dump from Kyndal Williams and a short hit by Walter pulled the Yellojwackets to within one point 21-20. Academy of Art then used two big kills from Isabel Emrich and two blocks at the net to take set three.
 
In the final set, MSU Billings never really got into a rhythm. An early AAU run of 12-3 had MSUB calling a timeout at 14-5. The Urban Knights followed that up with another surge of 12-7 points to finish the match winning the set at 25-14.
 
Academy of Art was led by last week's PacWest Player of the Week Brum who had 19 kills. Emerich had 17 and Emily Papale threw down 10. Rachael Smith led the team in the assist column with 47, and Papale led the team in digs with 16.
 
MSU Billings had a total of 45 kills and 42 assists. Williams had 36 of those assists. Williams also finished the match with three blocks while Alaina Gentili led the team with four.
 
Next week, Montana State University Billings returns home to start the team's conference schedule. The Yellowjackets will host Western Oregon University on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. Live video and stats will be available at msubsports.com.