ELLENSBERG, Wash. – A defensive-minded Central Washington (19-7, 14-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) squad dealt a 3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-17) loss to the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets (8-20, 4-14 GNAC) on Saturday night. With the win, the Wildcats sweep the season series over the 'Jackets.
"We had a difficult time from the outset," head coach
Casey Williams said. "Central Washington made some adjustments defensively that made it difficult for us to be a threat on the offensive end."
MSUB showed a lot of fight as they recorded hitting percentages of .205 and .220 in the final two sets against a Central Washington defense that ranks second in the nation in blocks per set.
Bayli Monck and
Hali Ehresmann led the 'Jackets offensive attack with 11 and nine kills respectively.
Kylee Clarke had 23 assists in the match as she ran the MSUB attack.
Jordan Mix and
Maddi Vigil each recorded
seven kills on the night and Vigil was second on the team with 14 digs.
Izela Alvarez's 15 digs led MSUB's back row with
Mina Duong adding eight digs.
After a slow first set, the Yellowjacket offense found a rhythm in the middle of the second set as Monck, Mix, Ehresmannn and Vigil started to connect with Clarke. The Wildcats built a 14-10 lead on MSUB when the 'Jacket offense began to click led by five kills each from Monck and Ehresmann.
A kill from Monck knotted the set at 19-19 and another from Ehresmann gave the 'Jackets a one point advantage before a CWU timeout. Monck and Ehresmann responded with two more kills leading to a second Wildcat timeout with the 'Jackets up 22-19. However the Wildcats would respond with a pair of kills from Shelby Mauritson paired with a kill from Bridgette Webb to capitalize on two errors from MSUB down the stretch giving CWU a 2-0 lead.
The third set was a tight from the start as the teams racked up 10 ties and five lead changes. Central Washington began to pull away with a 6-0 run giving them a 20-14 lead. A 5-3 run closed out the match and gave the victory to the CWU.
The Wildcats collected seven blocks on the night led by Sara Joffs' five block assists. MSUB struggled to slow the Central attack with just one block over the three sets. Mauritson led all attackers with 17 kills on the night while Central saw four players reach double-digits in digs on the night.
UP NEXT: MSUB will finish the season next weekend as they visit the University of Alaska Anchorage (18-9, 13-5 GNAC) and the University of Alaska next weekend. On Thursday the 'Jackets will be in Anchorage to face the Seawolves at 7 p.m. Alaska time before traveling to Fairbanks for the season finale at 2 p.m. Alaska time. The Seawolves swept the 'Jackets in Billings in their first meeting of the season after MSUB took a five-set decision from the Nanooks in their first conference game of the season. Both match can be followed via the
MSUB Stretch Internet Portal.
