BILLINGS, Mont. – With a 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-14) win on Thursday night, the Yellowjackets (8-17, 4-11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) evened the season series with the Western Oregon Wolves (6-17, 2-14 GNAC) in Alterowitz Gym.
"Tonight is the best we've played all season," head coach
Casey Williams remarked after the match. "We executed our game plan and saw some incredible production from the entire team. I couldn't be more proud of our effort."
Montana State University Billings had a quartet of attackers reach double figures led by
Maddi Vigil's 19 kills.
Hali Ehresmann was second on the team with a season-high 14 kills, followed by
Jordan Mix with 11 and
Bayli Monck with 10. The Yellowjackets out-hit the Wolves .207 to .167 in the victory.
Izela Alvarez led the team in digs with 26 while both Vigil and Mix recorded double-doubles with 22 and 10 digs respectively.
Katie Campbell also stood out on the defensive end as she tallied 20 digs in the match. The block was a major factor against the Wolves led by junior
Miranda McConnell and her eight block-assists. Monck recorded a season-best seven block-assists in the match. The 'Jackets topped their season high of 12 blocks from just two matches ago by delivering 13 on Thursday night.
Kylee Clarke was excellent as she shouldered the setting duties and picked up a season-high 59 assists in the match. It is the second highest total recorded in a GNAC contest this season behind Northwest Nazarene's Hailey Cook who recorded 60 against Central Washington on Oct. 10.
"Kylee really stepped up for us tonight," Williams said. "She did a great job running our offense and letting out hitters make plays."
The match became more intense as the night went on with the third set providing a crucial 2-1 cushion for the 'Jackets down the stretch. With the Wolves leading 21-20 in the third frame, Mix and Ehresmann stuffed the WOU attack to knot the game up. An ace from Clarke gave MSUB a 22-21 lead before a Mix kill and a pair of points fell the Wolves way to tie the set at 23-23. MSUB's freshman outside hitter, Vigil, punctuated the set with a pair of kills culminating in a perfectly place tip over the WOU block to deliver the 25-23 win.
Western Oregon raced out to a 12-6 lead in the fourth set and staved off a series of rallies from the 'Jackets to even the match at two sets apiece and setting the stage for the fifth set. The 'Jackets never trailed in the final frame after opening up a 6-2 lead out of the gate, however the Wolves rallied back and were within one at 12-11. Ehresmann and Monck each recorded big kills down the stretch but it was the captain McConnell who delivered the decisive blow and sealed the 16-14 win for the 'Jackets.
Monck now has 203 kills this season and joins Vigil (273) as the only Yellowjacket freshman tandem to record more than 200 kills each since 2001. They're the first freshmen to record more than 200 kills since Monica Grimsrud did it in 2011.
"Bayli and Maddi continue to be impressive in their first season," Williams said of the duo. "They are putting up some big numbers in a tough GNAC conference and I'm excited to see them grow within our program and have success throughout their careers."
Western Oregon's Alisha Bettinson set a career record for the Wolves with her 1,075 kills as the senior recorded 18 kills in the match. Leila Holt tallied 52 assists for WOU and Sierra Stultz led the attack with 19 kills and a .359 hitting percentage.
The 'Jackets recorded highs in kills (64), attacks (208), points (84) and blocks (13) on the night. They will be back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. as they host the Concordia Cavaliers (10-12, 5-10 GNAC).
