BILLINGS, Mont. – The weekend will be spent in Oregon for the Montana State University Billings volleyball team (6-9, 2-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) as they travel to Concordia University (7-7, 2-5 GNAC) in Portland, Ore., on Thursday before facing the Western Washington Wolves (5-9, 1-6 GNAC) in Monmouth, Ore. Thursday's game against the Cavaliers will start at 6:30 p.m. MTN while the match against the Wolves starts at 3 p.m. MTN on Saturday.
 
The Yellowjackets are 7-21 against the Oregon opponents all-time with all seven wins coming against Western Oregon. The Wolves have won 17-of-24 matches against the 'Jackets while the GNAC's newest member, Concordia, has won all four contests against MSUB.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Yellowjackets are coming off of a 3-0 win over Saint Martin's University on Saturday led by the team's best offensive output of the season. MSUB recorded a team hitting percentage of .298 with 44 kills on 104 attempts. Miranda McConnell hit .417 to lead MSUB while Bayli Monck had 10 kills with a .391 hitting percentage and Maddi Vigil recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 15 digs. Alexa Smythe had 37 assists in the match and added four well timed kills in the win.
 
The win came after a five-set loss to Seattle Pacific University on Thursday night. The 'Jackets started strong with a 25-18 win in the first set against the Falcons but SPU returned the favor with a win by the same score in the second. The third set was much closer as MSUB gutted out a 28-26 win to give them the advantage heading into the fourth set. From there it was all Falcons as the 'Jackets offense stalled and SPU won both the fourth and fifth set by 10-points.
 
Vigil played well in the loss with 22 kills and 18 digs. Smythe recorded a season-best 48 assists against the Falcons and Izela Alvarez picked up 29 digs in the match.
 
NUMBERS AND NOTES
 
VIGIL-ENCE: Vigil's excellence has been apparent as the freshman outside hitter has increased her volume and effectiveness in recent matches as she leads the team in kills, hitting percentage, points and double-doubles this season. Vigil has three of her team-leading seven double-doubles in conference play and the 'Jackets are 2-1 in those matches. She set a career-high with 22 kills in the five set loss to Seattle Pacific and has recorded 10-or-more kills in 10 of the 15 games this season. The 'Jackets are 5-5 when Vigil records double-digit kills but are 5-2 when she combines the feat with a hitting percentage of .200 or better. All of the double-doubles have been kills and digs this season as Vigil is second on the team with 2.9 digs per set.
 
303 ON THE WAY UP: Izela Alvarez improved her GNAC-leading 5.72 digs per set average in two matches last week as she compiled 46 digs in eight sets for an average of 5.75. In 15 games this season the freshman has totaled 303 digs and is now just 117 digs outside the top-10 all-time season totals in program history with 15 games left. At the current rate, Alvarez will break MSUB's all-time record of 577 digs in a season set by Erin Compton.  Alvarez, along with Vigil and Taylor Sherman have shouldered the load on the back row as the three have led the 'Jackets to an 18.30 dig per set average as a team, which ranks second in the GNAC.
 
BUMP-SMYTHE-SPIKE: Alexa Smythe set a new season-high with 48 assists in the five-set match against SPU while averaging 9.6 assists per set. She followed it with an even better performance in Saturday's win over the Saints when she averaged 12.33 assists per set while guiding the MSUB attack in three sets. The Phoenix, Ariz., native has averaged 8.24 assists over 21 sets this season which would be good enough for sixth in the GNAC once she has participated in 50 percent of the team's games.
 
WHAT ARE THE ODDS: The 'Jackets started each of last week's matches with first set victories. The first set is the only set in which MSUB has a positive point differential this season as they have outscored opponents 345-331 in the opening frame. Building off of a 9-6 record in the first set this season the 'Jackets have an identical record in the third set and are 1-2 in the fifth set. The 19-14 record in the odd sets are in stark contrast to MSUB's woes in the even sets where they carry a 5-15 mark this season. MSUB has yet to win a fourth set this season in five chances.
 
FILL IN THE RANK: Alvarez ranks first in the GNAC with 5.72 digs per set, the average ranks 23rd nationally. Alvarez is also 16th in aces per set, averaging .30. Vigil is seventh in the conference with 3.42 kills per set and eighth with 3.77 points per set. Monck is 15th in kills per set at 2.83 and 16th in points at 3.18 per set. Kaylee Clarke has the fifth highest assist average in the GNAC with 9.62.
 
GNAC PACK: No. 12 Northwest Nazarene University continues to set atop the Great Northwest Athletic conference with their unblemished 14-0, 6-0 GNAC record. Defending GNAC Champions, University of Alaska Anchorage lost two matches last week to fall to 9-6, 4-2 GNAC this season and leave the Crusaders as the lone undefeated in conference competition. It is the first time since November of 2014 that the Seawolves have lost consecutive games. No. 11 Western Washington continues to carry the top national rank in the GNAC with an 11-3, 5-1 GNAC record this season. Tied with WWU in second place is Central Washington University who carries a 10-4, 5-1 GNAC record.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW
 
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY CAVALIERS: The Cavaliers finished last season sixth in the GNAC with a 15-13, 11-9 GNAC record. Concordia has started slow this season dropping five of their first seven GNAC games. They come into Thursday's match after snapping a five game losing streak with a 3-0 over Western Oregon.
 
Concordia ranks third in the conference in service aces and assists while placing fourth in kills to this point in the season. Two seniors, Lindsey Dorsey and Michele Brown, lead the Cavs serve with .41 and .38 aces per set respectively. Dorsey's 21 aces earns her the third best average while Brown has the fifth best percentage with 16 aces in 42 sets. Brown also leads the team in assists and ranks third in the GNAC with 10.19 assists per set.
 
Dorsey leads the team in kills and is ninth in the conference with 3.31 kills per set while hitting .226, 19th in the GNAC. Another senior, Colby Barnette averages 2.67 kills and junior Livia Strandberg averages 2.59 kills which place 18th and 20th in the conference.
 
Barnette has averaged over a block per set so far this season with her 1.06 block pace being good enough for eighth in the GNAC. Two sophomores have recorded the most digs for the Cavaliers with Anna Dols and Allie Spear averaging 3.69 and 3.14 digs a piece while each have played 51 sets. Dols is 12th in the conference while Spear is 19th.  
 
Melanie Hambelton is in here ninth year at the head of the Concordia volleyball program. In her nine seasons, she has become the winningest coach in program history with 149 wins. Before joining the Cavaliers while they were still a member of the NAIA, Hambelton was head coach at Estacada High School in Estacada, Ore.
 
WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY WOLVES: The Wolves are coming off of an eighth place finish in the 2016 season in which they finished with a record of 10-17, 7-13 GNAC. WOU is currently on a six-match losing streak with their last win coming on Sept. 14 in Lacey, Wash., against Saint Martin's.
 
 Western Oregon has allowed the highest opponent hitting percentage in the conference this season with teams hitting .205 against the Wolves defense. Their 17.60 digs per set average ranks fifth in the conference.
 
Senior Alisha Bettinson leads the Wolves attack with 4.04 kills per set, the third best average in the GNAC. Bettison is fourth in the conference with 4.38 points per set. Senior Sydney Blankinship has the top hitting percentage on the team at .256 followed by Mariella Vandenkooy's .243 average, ranking 11th and 15th respectively. Defensively, junior MacKenzie Bowen leads WOU with 4.16 digs per set, 11th in the GNAC and is complimented by Bettinson's 20th ranked 3.10 digs per set.
 
Tommy Gott is in his first season as the Wolves head coach after being an assistant at his alma mater Chico State for seven years. Gott played middle blocker at Golden West College before transferring to Chico State where he earned his bachelor's in kinesiology. He earned a master's degree in intercollegiate athletic leadership from the University of Washington in 2014.
 
FOLLOW LIVE: Live video and statistics will be available for all MSUB home matches and all GNAC road contests throughout the 2017 season, through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal.