NAMPA, Idaho – A comprehensive effort both offensively and defensively helped send the Montana State University Billings volleyball over Northwest Nazarene University 3-1 Saturday night in at Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at Johnson Sports Center. Riley Moore, Bayli Monck, and Eavan Taylor all recorded double figure kills for MSUB and Katie Campbell and Izela Alvarez combined for 40 digs in the 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20 win.
 
The Yellowjackets (12-16, 6-12 GNAC) surpassed their conference record from a year ago with the victory over NNU. It was also the second time MSUB defeated the Nighthawks this season. The first was a five-set affair on October 4 which was won by MSUB 3-2. Northwest Nazarene (6-18, 6-12 GNAC) is now tied with the Yellowjackets for eighth place in the GNAC standings.
 
"We played very hard and I think it showed for us statistically," commented head coach Casey Williams. "Our defense didn't let anything drop and did a great job of putting us in the system. I am certainly a proud coach tonight."
 
Taylor may have had the most complete effort of anyone on the team Saturday night for MSUB. The freshman middle-blocker recorded 10 kills and seven blocks and hit .350. Monck collected her third double-double of the year with 13 kills and 12 digs. She also collected four block assists and hit .281.
 
Alexa Smythe and Kylee Clarke split time at setter again for MSUB, but it was Smythe who notched her fifth career double-double with 18 assists and 10 digs. Clarke led all players with 32 assists and added five digs and one service ace.
 
MSU Billings outhit the Nighthawks 59-to-51 in kills and .189 to .126 in hitting percentage. The 'Jackets had 12.0 blocks compared to NNU's 7.0 and four service aces compared to three for Northwest Nazarene.
 
The first set narrowly went the Nighthawks. At 23-23, an attack error by Campbell gave NNU a set point and Cami Heninger capitalized with a kill to seal it 25-23. The 'Jackets battled back in the second and a set point kill by Skylar Reed was the difference to flip the script back to 1-1.
 
The two teams traded leads in the early and middle stages of the third set, but the Yellowjackets drew a three-point separation 23-20, then took set point after an attacking error was made by the Nighthawks' Taylor Markland.
 
MSUB grabbed a measurable advantage near the midway point of the fourth set 14-10 and held on the rest of the way. Reed made the final kill of the match to win it 25-20 on a set from Clarke.
 
Heninger had a double-double for the Nighthawks with 14 kills and 17 digs. Kayla Sale also had a strong performance for NNU with 11 kills and 16 digs. Shayli Siegfried led all players with 21 digs on the NNU back row.
 
Reed and Miranda McConnell went under the radar but both had good offensive numbers for the Yellowjackets. Reed finished with eight kills and two blocks hitting .194 and McConnell went for nine kills and five blocks and a .250 percentage on the attack.
 
Montana State Billings snapped its' four match losing streak with the victory and had lost ten straight sets coming into Saturday night's bout.
 
THE BUZZ: Eavan Taylor was named St. Vincent Healthcare player of the match for MSUB. Taylor notched double figure kills for the fourth time this fall and was one block short of a season high for block assists with seven…Montana State Billings improved to 7-22 all-time against Northwest Nazarene. The Yellowjackets came into 2018 on a nine match losing streak against the Nighthawks, but won both matches this season to begin closing the gap.
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets return home to close out the regular season with a pair of matches next week. On November 8, MSU Billings welcomes Concordia University at 7 p.m. Then it will be a senior day matchup against Western Oregon on November 10 at 2 p.m. A special recognition will take place during introductions for the seniors' McConnell, Campbell, and Taylor Sherman. Both Concordia and Western Oregon are conference opponents.