BILLINGS, Mont. – After back-to-back weeks of tournament action, the Montana State University Billings volleyball team returns to Alterowitz Gym to begin Great Northwest Athletic Conference play against Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
 
"The main thing we've been focusing on is what we can do on our side," MSUB head coach Casey Williams said of the upcoming matches. "With us not having played Central and NNU in two years, I think it's any person's game at the end of the day, so we need to make sure we are connecting positively offensively and defensively."
 
The Wildcats (4-2) come into Billings after hosting the CWU/SPU Invitational last weekend. Straight-set wins over Hawai'i Pacific, then-13^th-ranked St. Cloud State and Biola were enough for them to receive votes in the latest AVCA Preseason Poll.
 
"Central Washington has been a great program over the past 30 years," Williams said. "We know they're going to be tall and aggressive."
 
Northwest Nazarene, on the other hand, will arrive in Alterowitz Gym off the heels of playing at Seattle Pacific on Thursday. So far, the Nighthawks (1-5) have been led by Natalie Sullivan and GNAC All-Preseason selection Brooke Foster, who have averaged 3.18 and 3.00 kills-per-set, respectively.
 
The Yellowjackets and Nighthawks split the series 1-1 in the 2019 season, in which the road teams won both matches.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: The Yellowjackets are coming off a four-game series in Chaminade University's Hawai'i Challenge, in which MSUB went 0-4, including a close five-set loss to Cal State East Bay, then by handing the Silverswords their only dropped set in their own tournament in their rematch on Sept. 12. When the dust settled, senior opposite hitter Bayli Monck made the all-tournament team after recording a 12 kill, 10 dig double-double against CSUEB, notching 14 kills on a career-best .500 hitting percentage against Hawai'i-Hilo, then an 18-kill night in the finale against Chaminade. Additionally, Skylar Reed and Olivia Schwartz and Briel Norman turned in their best performances of the season so far.
 
Since that weekend, however, Chaminade was ranked #21 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, plus the Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans continued to receive votes. Williams did find some bright spots from playing against such a stacked field. 
 
"We played some great competition in Hawai'i, and we had a great showing at our home tournament, so I definitely think there are positives to take away from every competition we've had so far," Williams said. "I'm looking forward to getting into conference play with a clean slate and getting after it."
 
In the first game against CSUEB, junior Skylar Reed was instrumental in helping push the game to the decisive fifth set. The Arizonan led the way with a season-high 16 kills – five of which came in the fourth set – and added a service ace as MSUB rallied in the fourth.
 
"Skylar has done a really good job pushing our offense," Williams said. "It's really nice to have rotations where Skylar and Bayli are up front at the same time, because that really forces other teams to stay disciplined at the block. Hannah Hashbarger and Briel Norman have done a really great job distributing and running the offense to both of them."
 
"Skylar has a good read on the ball and can read the defense well, which is why I thought she was successful last week," Williams added.
 
Playing against a D1 transfer-heavy Chaminade team, MSUB needed a spark on offense. Enter Olivia Schwartz, who ended up having both of her best games of the season against the Silverswords. The second-year freshman came off the bench to add four kills in the first match, then she tied her career-high with eight in the rematch on Sept. 12. In the latter game, Schwartz showed off her powerful swing, coming through late in the second set and multiple times in MSUB's victorious third set.
 
"She's so aggressive and so powerful," Williams said of Schwartz. "We're working on her ball-control and what she needs to do in out-of-system situations, but she's aware of both of those things and she's working really hard. It was really cool to see her come off the bench with so much energy and get us out of a tight position."
 
The Yellowjackets' second crack at the Silverswords was arguably their best game of the tournament, especially given the circumstances and their opponent. After a quick turnaround from the first game of the day's doubleheader, MSUB rallied back from behind in nearly every set, took the third set and showed off the scrappiness that Williams believes has defined the team thus far.
 
"The first three games were a little rough for us, but after we got ourselves together and whatnot, the last game was the best game we've played in the tournament," Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Marissa Logozzo said, agreeing with her coach's sentiments. "Our offense definitely stepped up during that game. Bayli had a great game – she had lots of kills that game – and there were a lot of good hustle plays from Christine Funk and our defense. Hannah and Briel were also doing a great job running our offense and getting our hitters in system."
 
Now, however, the Yellowjackets have arrived at GNAC play. The initial rush of the beginning of the season has subsided and the crucible of the season is here. Despite how quickly the season has flown by so far, both Williams and Logozzo indicated the team has been focusing on taking advantage of the clean slate that conference play provides.
 
"We're definitely working on coming together as a team," Logozzo said. "We have some really good aspects of our play, and it's just a matter of putting all of those things together now. I think our preseason tournaments really helped us grow, and now with conference play, putting together all of those pieces together will be really huge for us."
 
CHIAWANA CONNECTION: Of all the Yellowjackets, Marissa Logozzo knows the Central Washington volleyball roster the best. Before coming to MSUB, Logozzo not only played on the Central Region United club volleyball team with six of the Wildcats, but also played for her high school team alongside CWU outside hitter Kylie Thorne. Logozzo and Thorne helped Chiawana High School finish 14-0 in league play and place eighth at the 2018 WIAA 4A State Volleyball Tournament during Logozzo's senior year.
 
As for Logozzo's time on the Central Region United club volleyball team, she is impressed with how many of her club teammates – herself included – have been able to play collegiate volleyball at a plethora of competitive program.
 
"It's awesome to see everyone I grew up playing with getting those opportunities to play at the next level," Logozzo said. "It's always great to play against them, and it's good, healthy competition."
 
QUICK HITS

• Bayli Monck is two kills short of 1,000 on her MSUB career. She currently has 998, which ranks ninth in MSUB history.
• Joelle Mahowald ranks 40^th in Division II with 32.0 total blocks. She is on pace to not only surpass her MSUB single-season best of 105 total blocks, but also finish among the top-10 seasons in program history.
• Junior setter Hannah Hashbarger started the season ranked ninth in MSUB history with 1,252 assists. She currently has 1,467 assists going into this weekend, and she is 17 away from passing Krissy Janney to be seventh all-time.

 
UP NEXT: MSUB hosts Central Washington on Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. and caps off the first week of GNAC play against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 18 at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on the MSUB Sports YouTube channel, and a live stat link can be found here.