BILLINGS, Mont. – Chelsey Walter emphatically slammed down the final point of the match in the fifth set, prompting the Montana State University Billings volleyball team into celebration after completing a dramatic 3-2 victory over visiting No. 11 Western Washington on Saturday evening inside Alterowitz Gym.
 
The win pushed MSUB's record to 9-5 overall on the season, and the 'Jackets are now 4-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. MSUB is also 3-1 this season in 5-set matches, winning Saturday's match 16-25, 25-20, 26-24, 17-25, and 15-13.
 
"I really challenged our players in practice to start playing with that competitive spirit, and to go out there without any hesitations," said head coach Lisa Axel. "We really came out and played defense tonight, we were able to give ourselves a lot of second chances by getting a lot of digs, and Kyndal did a great job getting a to a lot of balls and putting our hitters into good situations to score."
 
In the fifth set, Monica Grimsrud finished a strong kill to give the 'Jackets a 7-5 edge, and MSUB stormed to an 11-7 lead with a dual block from Alaina Gentili and Krista Norris.
 
Fighting for its life down 14-11, WWU won the next two points to bring the match within one. Coming out of a timeout, Walter shot down the game-winning kill and sent the 'Jackets to victory.
 
Overall on the match, Ashlynn Ward had a team-best 19 kills, while Grimsrud had 16 and Walter added 14. Setter Kyndal Williams had a game-high 55 assists, and Gentili and Krista Norris each had three block assists. A trio of Yellowjackets finished with more than 20 digs, as Kimmy Kirk led the way with 27, Haley Wells had 25 and Mataia Roderick finished with 21.
 
For WWU (10-4, 3-2 GNAC) Kelsey Moore had a match-high 20 kills, and reigning GNAC Player of the Year Kayla Erickson added 14. Taylor Dillard turned in 52 assists for the Vikings, and Samantha Hutchinson had a match-high 41 digs.
 
On the game, WWU had 11 team blocks compared with MSUB's six, and the Vikings had an attack percentage of .182 while MSUB shot at .156.
 
Moore and Joellee Buckner combined for a block for the Vikings, part of a 6-1 run that gave Set 1 to WWU 25-16.
 
Ward started off Set 2 with a big kill, but the Vikings responded by taking the next five points. The burst by WWU was part of an overall 8-2 run, establishing a strong 10-4 lead early on.
 
Norris came up with a solo block to get the 'Jackets within two points, and an attack error by the Vikings cut their lead to 11-10. The teams alternated points, as Grimsrud followed a kill by Erickson with one of her own to make the score 14-14.
 
Holding an 18-15 edge, kills by Dillard and Buckner followed by an MSUB attack error pulled the score even once again at 18-18.
 
With the score knotted at 20-20, MSUB embarked on a three-point run, capitalized by a huge dual block from Williams and Walter that pushed WWU to a timeout. Williams set up game-point with a soft kill on the next point, and Walter finished it with a booming kill to even the match at one set apiece.
 
Play ran even to start the third set, as Gentili and Ward each had loud kills to help bring the score to 7-7. Neither side put together a lengthy run, and a kill by Jennica McPherson put the Vikings up by one at 17-16.
 
Walter and Grimsrud landed back-to-back kills to push the score to 20-20, but the Vikings took three of the next four points to move within two of grabbing the set at 23-21. Staying alive, MSUB went on a run of its own to knot the score at 24-24.
 
Gentili provided the set-winning block assist, as the 'Jackets fought strong for the 26-24 win.
 
The Vikings started the fourth set strong, and moved ahead to a 14-11 advantage. A Walter kill and service ace sparked a 3-1 MSUB run to make the deficit 16-15. Grabbing control down the stretch, a kill by Erickson made the score 22-17 in favor of the Vikings in the fourth.
 
A dual block by Erickson and Dillard, followed by an Erickson kill gave Set 4 to WWU 25-17.
 
The victory was the first-ever for MSUB against Western Washington, which had won the previous 17 encounters.
 
"We have been talking all season about how we can play with every team in this conference, it's just that we have to put that complete match together," Axel said. "Tonight we finally did that, and it gives us confidence to know that we are a good team and going forward we can keep playing with that competitive spirit."
 
COMING UP: With one game on tap for next weekend, MSUB welcomes Seattle Pacific to Alterowitz for a 7 p.m. home game on Oct. 4.