BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings volleyball team fell to number six in the nation Western Washington University 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-20) Saturday night.
WWU (21-1, 13-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) beat the Yellowjackets (7-17, 4-10 GNAC) for the 'Jackets fourth straight loss.
Kayliegh Harper was on fire for the Vikings, leading the team with a match high .632 hitting percentage and 13 kills. Gabby Gunterman also had 13 kills and hit .290. Malia Aleaga had a match high 40 assists.
For the second straight night, MSUB struggled to find any offensive rhythm getting out hit .080 to .281. MSUB also committed 21 errors to WWU's 14.
Maddi Vigil had a team high eight kills while fellow junior
Bayli Monck had seven. Freshman
Hannah Hayden chipped in six kills and
Joelle Mahowald finished with a team high .250 hitting percentage.
Defensively,
Marissa Logozzo and
Hannah Hashbarger each had nine digs. Freshman setter Hashbarger also held a team high 29 assists.
"We worked really hard tonight and saw some improvement from yesterday," said head coach
Casey Williams. "We showed our youth at times and made too many costly errors."
The Yellowjackets played their best in the opening set, combining for a .125 hitting percentage, but the number six team in the country proved too much and ultimately overwhelmed the 'Jackets with experience and fire power.
Never trailing by more than three, MSUB kept pace with WWU in the first set. Pulling within two after a kill from Hashbarger, 22-20, MSUB could not capitalize and two quick points from the Vikings sealed their fate. One more kill from Harper and WWU took the first set 25-21.
The third set would prove a back-and-fourth affair to see the teams tied at 18-18 after service ace from
Molly Packer. A six to one run by WWU effectively would prove the dagger and one final kill from Harper sealed the deal to give WWU the 25-20 set victory and overall 3-0 match win.
Hannah Hashbarger was named Saint Vincent Healthcare player of the game for her team high 29 assists and nine digs.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets return home for their final two home games for the year. MSUB hosts Northwest Nazarene University on November 7 and concludes home play with Central Washington University on November 9.
