BILLINGS, Mont. – No matter who is on the non-conference schedule or how the rest of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference race is expected to stack up, the Montana State University Billings volleyball team circles the two-game series against Rocky Mountain College.
 
The first meeting between the two teams is Tuesday night at Alterowitz Gym at 7 p.m., which will give MSUB a brief reprieve from GNAC play before it hosts Seattle Pacific on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
Although the two schools aren't in the same classification, the rivalry could not be more insular. The two schools are separated by 2.3 miles along Rimrock Road, plus Billings' small-town atmosphere lends to quite a bit of familiarity between the two teams. Naturally, both games draw some of the biggest home crowds either team will have all year.
 
"In my first years here, Rocky had a bunch of super, super talented girls – and they still do – but the games were always super competitive," Senior opposite hitter Bayli Monck said of the rivalry. "We could see each other at the grocery store the next day and everything would be fine, but out on the court, it's always such a competitive atmosphere. It's always a super fun game to play in because we both get good crowds from our communities."
 
Like any good rivalry, the Rimrock Rivalry oftentimes brings out the best in players. In recent years, few Yellowjackets have had better games against the school down the road than junior opposite hitter Skylar Reed. Her first career start came against the Battlin' Bears back on Sept. 18, 2018, in which she led all players with 20 kills. Since then, Reed has been a fixture in the starting lineup.
 
Fast forward to 2021, and Reed had yet another career day against the crosstown rivals. Avenging a four-set loss from earlier in the pandemic-shortened spring season, Reed thrashed the Battlin' Bears with a career-high 24 kills.
 
"When they took that first game off of us, we took it pretty personally," Reed said. "We came back and said, 'there's no way they're going to do that to us again' and ended up beating them."
 
Even for players like Joelle Mahowald, who entered the rivalry later than her upperclassmen counterparts after transferring in from Spokane Falls Community College, the hype delivered. From her first
 
"It's a game that's super hyped up," Mahowald said. "Coming in and hearing from Skylar, Bayli and everyone else who had experienced a Rocky game before talk about the atmosphere at the games made me super excited. The game lived up to pretty much everything they had said about it. It's always a rowdy environment."
 
Although the majority of the MSUB roster has experienced a Rimrock Rivalry game before, the second-year freshmen and the true freshmen haven't witnessed how amped up the games can truly be. Last season, MSUB played two of its six countable games against the Battlin' Bears, albeit in empty gyms. This year, however, the returners have told the rest of the team what to expect when the teams square off in front of a packed house. Plus, hosting the series first this season could be advantageous for the Yellowjackets, who have a 6-2 record at home this year and are currently riding a three-game home win streak.
 
"We've been telling them we're playing them at home first, and there's no way we'll let someone have more energy than us in our own gym," Reed said. "We've been playing really well at home this year, so we're excited to play in front of a bigger crowd with Rocky coming in. It's exciting to see how we're going to step up to that challenge."
 
Yet for all the positives that playing in front of a raucous home court brings, MSUB head coach Casey Williams believes her team will need to keep composure and not let the moment hinder the team's performance on the court. For a rivalry as volatile and unpredictable as this, having a few off points off here or there could make the match go sideways.
 
"The ability for us to stay composed is going to be a huge factor for us," Williams said. "I think we're going to have a bigger crowd than we've seen at any point throughout the season; I think there will be a lot of emotions. But with that said, we need to be disciplined on our side of the net, we need to be composed and we need to be aggressive."

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: The Yellowjackets beat Western Oregon and Saint Martin's last week, giving the team its first 2-0 week in GNAC play since Sept. 19-21, 2019. Additionally, MSUB was one of two teams to go 2-0 last week (the other being Seattle Pacific, which, coincidentally, plays MSUB on Saturday night). Along the way, Bayli Monck won her second-career GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award for her 21-kill outing against WOU and her 13-kill, 11-dig double-double against Saint Martin's.
 
Last Thursday, the 'Jackets rallied down two sets to one to beat the upset-minded Wolves. Monck had arguably her best game of the season with a 21-kill, nine-dig and three service ace outing, which included a monster fifth set performance that helped put Western Oregon away for good. Joelle Mahowald finished with 14 kills and two service aces of her own, plus Skylar Reed had yet another double-digit kill outing, finishing with 13 and three service aces for good measure.
 
Everything went MSUB's way in the next game, however, as the 'Jackets had their most dominating performance of the season against Saint Martin's, which had previously gone 4-0 in Alterowitz to open up the season at the Yellowjacket Invitational. This time, however, MSUB was closer to perfection: In the three-set sweep, the Yellowjackets had their most efficient hitting day of the year (.351), its most balanced attack with Reed and Monck leading the way with 13 kills apiece, plus five different 'Jackets dropped in service aces in the all-around performance.
 
The MSUB block stepped up as well. Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hayden had her best game of the season with six kills and four blocks. Nearly every combination at the net was effective, defensively: Mahowald had six blocks to go along with her five kills, Monck had four blocks in addition to her double-double, plus setter Hannah Hashbarger had four blocks and a kill to go along with her 39 assists.
 
Slice the numbers nearly any way, and the 'Jackets excelled.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: So far, MSUB's defense at the net – which moved up to fourth amongst all GNAC teams by averaging 2.43 blocks per set -- has come into its own at the right time. The Hannah Hair-led Seattle Pacific Falcons come to town on Saturday, providing a good test between SPU's middle attack and MSUB's block.
 
"SPU is always a very fun match," Williams said. "They have a middle blocker who's really popping off, and for us that'll be our main focus. We're going to get through Tuesday, and then we'll start really focusing defending that middle attack."
 
Additionally, Saturday will pit the GNAC's top two hitters against each other with the aforementioned Hair (.444 hitting percentage) and reigning co-GNAC Offensive Player of the Week Bayli Monck, who ranks second with a .335 hitting percentage. In terms of kills, MSUB has Monck (3.62 kills per set/3^rd GNAC) and Reed (2.67 kills per set/T-16^th GNAC) in the top 16; whereas SPU's Erin Gould (2.90 kills per set) and Maddie Batiste (2.70 kills per set) ran and Hair (2.61 kills per set) rank 10^th, 14^th and 19^th.
 
Suffice to say, there won't be a shortage of offensive firepower on Saturday afternoon. Instead, the match could come down to the team that is more disciplined at the net.
 
"Defensively, we're going to have to be smart with where we're contacting the ball overhead," Williams said. "We're going to have to get them out of system as often as possible so they won't be able to run their middle attack."
 
STAT CORNER

• Coincidentally, the last time MSUB had a perfect week in GNAC play, the 'Jackets beat Rocky the following week.
• MSUB is 40-24 all-time against their opponents down the street – including a 28-9 record at home.
• Hannah Hayden's 1.33 blocks per set ranks fourth in the GNAC and Joelle Mahowald's 1.05 blocks per set ranks 10^th, making MSUB one of three teams with multiple players in the top-10 in that statistical category. The other two teams? Alaska and Central Washington.
• Behind the service line, Skylar Reed (0.43 service aces per set) and Jahsita Fa'ali'i (0.36 service aces per set) rank 10^th and 15^th, respectively, in the GNAC for service aces per set.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB plays Rocky Mountain College at home tomorrow at 7 p.m. After that, the 'Jackets will take on Seattle Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. Livestream and live stat links can be found at the women's volleyball schedule page on msubsports.com.