CHADRON, Neb. – A valiant comeback effort fell just short on Friday night at the Chicoine Center, as the Montana State University Billings volleyball team fell in five sets to University of Sioux Falls (17-25, 15-25, 25-20, 27-25, 13-15).
 
After staying alive with a sound third-set win, MSUB faced match point in the fourth trailing 25-24. After a ball-handling error on the Cougars, reigning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week Christine Funk delivered a service ace before an attack error capped MSUB's 3-0 run to force the fifth.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-1) led 9-6 and 11-9 in the fifth set, but USF persevered and won six of the final eight points to hold on for the victory. "We fought unbelievably hard tonight and couldn't finish against a tough USF team," said MSUB head coach Casey Bonner, after her team's first defeat of the season. "We had a slow start and struggled to stay in system off of serve receive in the first two sets. I was proud of our team for fighting and I can't wait to get back out on the court tomorrow."
 
Freshman Lily Gentz led the Yellowjackets with 13 kills, while Emma Burlingame was close behind with 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .400. Hannah Hashbarger had 25 assists, while Funk added 20 digs and Kennedy Juranek was close behind with 17 digs.
 
Courtney Holsteen led all players in the match with 20 kills, with Grace Hanel adding 17 and Sadie Voss 16 for USF, which improved to 2-3 with the victory. Elise Gillen had 32 assists, and Brynn Askew paced the defense with 23 digs in the match. USF hit a solid .268, compared to a mark of .224 by the Yellowjackets.
 
The Cougars jumped out to an early advantage in the opening set, and maintained the spread on their way to a 25-17 victory. Much like the Yellowjackets' first match of the season against MSU Moorhead, in which they dropped the opening two sets, MSUB stalled again in the second with a 25-15 defeat. The Cougars led 11-5 and 15-9, and MSUB wasn't able to string together a rally to pull closer in the second frame.
 
THE BUZZ: Burlingame was selected as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 0-2 all-time against Sioux Falls, with both matches being played in Chadron…the 'Jackets snapped a string of 12 consecutive set victories when they dropped the opener on Friday.
 
NEXT UP: The 'Jackets return to the court Saturday, to face host Chadron State at 11 a.m. and Minot State University at 1 p.m. Live coverage for Saturday's matches will be available online here.