BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State University Billings volleyball team closed out the Yellowjacket Volleyball Invitational with a 3-1 win over Minnesota State University Moorhead and a 3-1 loss against the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers on Saturday, Sept. 4.
 
At the conclusion of the final game, Joelle Mahowald and Bayli Monck were named to the all-tournament team for their efforts. Mahowald had two big games on day two, first by nearly tying her MSUB career high with 17-kills against MSU Moorhead. In the second game, she tied Monck with a dozen kills, adding five blocks and sparking MSUB's third-set win against South Dakota Mines. Monck, meanwhile, had double-digit kills in all four games in the tournament, plus she capped off the tournament with a 12-kills, 17-dig double-double against South Dakota Mines.
 
QUICK HITS

• Rounding out MSUB's big three, Skylar Reed finished with 21 kills across both games.
• Freshman Christine Funk started two more games at libero on Saturday. She set a career high with 20 digs against MSU Moorhead, then surpassed that with 25 digs against South Dakota Mines, She had nine assists across both games.
• Setter Hannah Hashbarger ran the offense once more with 34 assists against MSU Moorhead and 32 against South Dakota Mines. She nearly had a double-double against the Dragons with nine digs, plus her two service aces led the team against South Dakota Mines.
• The Yellowjackets' 3-1 start to the season is the team's best since 2018.

 
Game 1 – MSU Billings 3, MSU Moorhead 1 (25-14, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20)
 
Everything was coming up Yellowjackets in the first set. In a sign of things to come, Joelle Mahowald opened the match with four quick kills during MSUB's 10-3 run to open the game. Fellow upperclassmen Skylar Reed and Bayli Monck rattled off three kills each in the first set, while freshman Tiffany Chandler and sophomore Hannah Hayden chipped in kills of their own as well.
 
As the Yellowjackets kept their distance from the Dragons, Williams turned to her bench to help MSUB keep the lead. Returning to the court for the first time since 2019, sophomore defensive specialist Makayla Baca subbed in later in the first set and led a stretch of serves that resulted in a 23-12 lead. Freshman setter Briel Norman also made significant contributions in the set: first by finding Mahowald for her sixth kill of the day, then by teaming up with Mahowald for a block, and finally by setting up Reed for the set point.
 
"We have such a diverse team and we have such a great bench," Mahowald said of her teammates. "At any moment, we can pull anyone off the bench and we know they can come out and perform for us."
 
In the first set, Yellowjackets out-hit the Dragons .385 to .034 while committing four attack errors to MSU Moorhead's eight.
 
MSUB took an early 4-1 lead but the Dragons gradually reclaimed it after the Yellowjackets' attacks erred off-target. But Mahowald answered the call yet again, rattling off back-to-back kills.
 
"When we scouted MSU Moorhead, we noticed that Joelle could expose a few holes in their defense," Williams said. "That's exactly what she did. Hannah Hashbarger found Joelle well in transition, and Joelle worked hard in transitions, which led to her playing really well today."
 
Trailing 11-9, Reed took over with a three-kill stretch of her own, including one swing in which she took advantage of an unorganized MSU Moorhead back line and sent a rocket to the far-right side of the court.
 
Both teams seesawed until MSUB tied it at 16-all with a kill from Hannah Hashbarger. MSU Moorhead then went on a 5-1 run – interrupted only by Mikayla Yore's first career block – yet this set the stage for some late-set heroics from the Yellowjackets.
 
Playing with their backs against the wall for the first time all season, the Yellowjackets chipped away at the lead with Chandler's third kill of the day. Another MSU Moorhead error and another kill from Joelle Mahowald cut the deficit to one, before MSU Moorhead took a 22-20 lead. But the Yellowjackets tied the game for the last time after the Dragons' next serve went long, followed by Monck's fourth kill of the set.
 
MSU Moorhead took a timeout at 22-all, but Chandler wasn't rattled on the ensuing serve. Her ace broke the tie for good, then Monck's back-breaking kill to put MSUB up 24-22 all but sealed the deal in set two. All told, MSUB out-hit MSU Moorhead .275 to .106 overall in the second.
 
The third set was another close affair. The Dragons jumped out to a 5-1, forcing MSUB to play catch-up throughout the set. The Yellowjackets would come all the way back to take a 14-13 lead off Chandler's kill, but another 4-0 MSU Moorhead run made the 'Jackets show some resolve.
 
The Yellowjackets clawed their way back into the game once more, thanks to Reed subbing in and making an immediate impact. Trailing 18-14, Reed helped MSUB first by teaming up with Mahowald for a block, and then with emphatic, back-to-back kills. Needing one more surge, MSUB turned to Hannah Hayden – whose quick hands at the net led to a block and a kill on back-to-back plays – and Monck threw down another kill to knot it at 24, but the Dragons pulled through for a 26-24 set win.
 
Flipping the script from the previous set, MSUB jumped out to a 5-1 lead before doubling up the Dragons on another kill from Mahowald at 8-4. The plucky Dragons weren't going down without a fight, but the Yellowjackets were still firmly in control from that point forward. Mahowald picked up her 17^th kill to give MSUB a 20-17 lead, which sparked another MSUB run to make things 22-17 late. The five-point cushion was enough, as MSU Moorhead faded down the stretch and MSUB's athleticism won out to win the fourth set, 25-20.
 
"One thing I did see was a lot of grit from our team," Williams said. "We fought back a couple of times and we really turned it on those last couple points. I'm happy that we were able to get it done."
 
Game 2 – MSU Billings 1, South Dakota Mines 3 (23-25, 24-26, 25-16, 20-25)
 
In a highly anticipated matchup between two teams who had five-set matches in their last three meetings, the Yellowjackets and South Dakota State Hardrockers clashed in the tournament finale in front of the weekend's largest crowd.
 
An ace from Hannah Hashbarger got the 'Jackets and their home crowd fired up. MSUB used that momentum to jump out to a 6-4 lead, courtesy of kills from Monck and Reed. Yet South Dakota Mines responded with a run of its own, jumping out to an 11-6 lead that led to an MSUB timeout.
 
Eventually the Yellowjackets regrouped with a thundering kill from Mahowald and more solid defense from Hannah Hayden and Hannah Hashbarger at the net. The Hardrockers threatened to run away with the set, but MSUB went on a 5-1 run, thanks to Reed's ace and back-to-back kills to make the score 19-18, Hardrockers.
 
Trailing 23-20, a pivotal call was reversed, giving new life to the Yellowjackets. On the ensuing point, Mahowald and Reed blocked a Mines attack back towards the opposing bench, then Hashbarger set up Mahowald, whose kill gave the Yellowjackets a 23-22 lead. The Hardrockers would rally one last time to take set one, 25-23.
 
In set two, Christine Funk and Tiffany Chandler teamed up to give MSUB a 2-1 lead, which quickly snowballed. As Funk and Chandler played solid defense in the back row, Monck registered her third kill and Mahowald hit a ball to the back left corner that sent South Dakota Mines' players diving. When the dust settled after a few Hardrocker miscues, the score was 8-4, MSUB.
 
Yet from that point forward, both teams traded the lead in the second set; neither team leading by more than four points. Whenever South Dakota Mines tried pulling away, Monck answered the call and the Hardrockers' serves went offline, building up to a neck-and-neck finish. Monck and Reed led the way with four and three kills, respectively, in the second set, as both teams battled to extras in a 26-24 Hardrocker win.
 
The Yellowjackets shook off the previous two sets in a huge third-set win. MSUB dominated in the third the set, holding South Dakota Mines to a .029 hitting percentage and capitalizing off 11 Hardrocker errors to the Yellowjackets' two. Mahowald rallied the troops in the third with an all-around performance: She had three total blocks in the third set alone to go along with four kills.
 
With the score tied 7-7, Mahowald's fingertips barely graced the ball downward for a kill. This small gesture sparked a 3-0 run for MSUB, which included Chandler's ace in a 7-2 MSUB run. Hashbarger tacked on another ace and then Monck rocketed the ball right at the Hardrockers' libero, which kept momentum going in the Yellowjackets' favor. A thundering kill from Chandler prompted South Dakota Mines to take a timeout trailing 16-10, but the damage was already done. The Hardrockers got within three points, but an 8-2 MSUB run punctuated by two enthusiastic slams from Mahowald gave MSUB a 25-16 win in set three.
 
MSUB opened the fourth set with kills from Monck and Olivia Schwartz – the latter of whom recorded her first kill of the season that fired up the MSUB sideline – plus another block from Hayden to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Monck would notch another kill to give MSUB a 7-6 lead, but both teams traded serves over the next seven points. Mahowald broke through with another kill to snap a 6-0 run, then Reed fired up the team with two late kills, but the Hardrockers forced match point on the next serve. MSUB watched South Dakota Mines' serve sail out of bounds to make the score 24-20, Mines, which set up a frenzied final point of the evening.
 
THE BUZZ: Joelle Mahowald was named St. Vincent Player of the Game for her 17 kills and five total blocks against MSU Moorhead, then by registering 12 kills and hitting .476 against South Dakota Mines…Tia Allen (Fr./OH/Saint Martin's) was named MVP of the Yellowjacket Invitational and Kylie Alos (Jr./L/Saint Martin's), Shyann Bastain (Sr./S/South Dakota Mines), Dejah Behrend (Jr./MB/South Dakota Mines) and Madison Hoopman (Jr./OH/Black Hills State) rounded out the all-tournament Team.
 
UP NEXT: MSUB will say aloha to the mainland as they fly to play four games in the Hawai'i 2021 Challenge, hosted by Chaminade University. The Yellowjackets' first game will be against CCAA's Cal State East Bay on Friday at 4 p.m., Mountain time. Links to live stats and Chaminade's livestream can be found at msubsports.com.