BILLINGS, Mont. – Fresh off an emotional 3-1 win over Simon Fraser on senior day, the Montana State University Billings volleyball team hits the road one final time against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington this week to conclude the 2021 season.

Although the Yellowjackets (11-15, 6-10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) cannot advance or drop in the GNAC standings with two games to go, MSUB will not only have its best finish in conference play since finishing sixth in 2014, but also could have its most wins in a single season since winning 13 games in 2018.

"Continuing off of Saturday and playing for our seniors and giving them the best possible exit would be amazing," MSUB head coach Casey Williams said of the next two games. "I also think that coming relatively close to the goal we set earlier this season will help; we can't finish at .500 at this point, but we can come really close. At this point of the season, we have nothing to lose, so I expect us to come out, play loose and have fun playing the game we all love."


ABOUT LAST WEEK

Playing two of the top teams in the GNAC at home, MSUB kicked off the week with one setback to a then-16th-ranked Western Washington team last Thursday. The Vikings showed why they were the class of the GNAC en route to a 3-0 sweep that clinched their fourth-consecutive GNAC title.

Two days later, however, the 'Jackets shook off the WWU loss. With most of the team's families and friends on hand for senior day, the Yellowjackets played inspired volleyball in their last game in Alterowitz Gym. 

"I think it was really cool to see us put everything together," MSUB head coach Casey Williams said. "To be able to play a complete, relatively consistent game was really cool to see this late in the season – especially because now is when you want to put everything together. The fact that we did that on Saturday, and to be able to have production from all three seniors on senior day was great."

As a team, MSUB out-hit Simon Fraser by a .262-.184 margin, had six aces to SFU's four, plus was stronger at the block with 10 total blocks to SFU's six. Not only that, every senior contributed in the win – whether it was Marissa Logozzo serving up an ace to clinch set two, or Joelle Mahowald firing up the crowd with one of her 11 kills and four blocks, or Bayli Monck's 21-kill, 16-dig, two-ace statline that was a senior day for the ages.

Although the Yellowjacket seniors showed out in their final games in Alterowitz Gym, last week was a changing of the guard, of sorts, as younger players like true freshman Tiffany Chandler (17 kills in two games) and second-year freshman libero Kennedy Juranek played key minutes amidst an experienced lineup. In particular, Chandler tied her career-high with 8 kills against Western Washington while hitting a career-best .444, then she set a new career-high with nine kills against Simon Fraser.

"It's been really nice to have Tiffany come back from injury and illness," Williams said. "She jumps so well and she's been so dynamic, so she's really given us something we've been missing over the past few weeks."

Juranek, who donned the libero jersey in both matches, stepped up by averaging 3.71 digs per set and had a service ace in both matches last week. According to Williams, everyone loves playing with Juranek, whose energy, intensity and lighthearted encouragement from the bench have been infectious. Despite being in her second season, Juranek has played in her first full GNAC season after last year was cut short due to the pandemic, yet Juranek says that learning how to play selflessly has been one of the biggest lessons she and the bulk of MSUB's young core has learned this year.

"I've learned about maturity for sure," Juranek said. "A couple of our freshman and people in my grade have had to step up. We've learned to trust one another as well. We're all sisters, and we're all family, but we've really learned how to play for a bigger cause and not ourselves this year. We always have to do our jobs for someone else – like, I have to get a good pass for Hannah Hashbarger to give a good set and for Bayli to put the ball down. It starts with me, but I want to do the best I can so [Hashbarger] can put up a good ball. We all want to do well for other people."

From her perspective, Juranek saw the tide turn during the second set, in which MSUB jumped out to a 12-4 lead, then withstood two late surges from Simon Fraser to win the set 25-19. 

"During that second set, something happened and we all clicked," Juranek said. "I was looking at the seniors and I decided I was going to start playing for them and not any one else – not my mom, my dad or anyone else, just these guys. Everyone felt like that; they didn't want to play for themselves, but they wanted to play for the seniors."

From there, the 'Jackets rolled. MSUB outlasted SFU in a 29-27 third-set win – complete with a lenghty, tension-building review on set point – before pulling away for good with a dominant fourth set. All told, last Saturday's win was MSUB's first over Simon Fraser since 2013, and its second upset home win in GNAC play. 


LAST TIME OUT

Back in September, MSUB opened GNAC play by splitting a pair of games against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 16 and 18, respectively. During the CWU game, MSUB took the first set against the Wildcats, yet dropped the next two sets and climbed all the way back to tie the fourth set at 23-all before CWU clinched the 3-1 victory.

Since then, both teams have taken different trajectories since playing in Alterowitz Gym. Save for a 3-1 non-conference win over Westminster, Northwest Nazarene spiraled, lasting nearly a month before earning its first GNAC win over Saint Martin's on Oct. 16. The Nighthawks come into Thursday's match with a 6-18 (3-13 GNAC) record after sweeping Saint Martin's 3-0 last Saturday. NNU has been bolstered by strong defense from sophomore libero Caroline McMahon, who leads the conference with 4.80 digs per set, plus Natalie Sullivan's team-high 3.81 kills per set, which is third in the GNAC. 

Central Washington, on the other hand, has handed Western Washington its lone loss of the season and split the season series with three of the GNAC's top five teams. The Wildcats have bounced in and out of the AVCA Divison II Coaches poll throughout the season, yet they rank fourth in the latest NCAA West Regional rankings with a postseason berth to play for this week. Gonzaga transfer Tia Andaya has been a force to be reckoned with for the Wildcats as of late, setting the GNAC's single-season triple-double record with her sixth against Western Oregon last Saturday.

"Oh, we are excited and we're ready to show up," Juranek said. "We played Central Washington in the beginning of the year, and they didn't really get to see who we were. But it took a couple matches for us to get to know who we were. We're a young team – even with our seniors. I feel like we're in a really good position coming off of last week's win, and we want to do the best we can to finish the year strong."

UP NEXT: MSUB plays at Northwest Nazarene tomorrow at 7 p.m., then travels to Central Washington for the season finale at 1 p.m. MT. Livestream and live stat links can be found at the women's volleyball schedule page on msubsports.com.