Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont.- The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket volleyball team (3-15) faced off against the Western Washington Vikings (5-10). Alterowitz was buzzing during the thrilling five set match as the 'Jackets played some of the best volleyball they've shown all year. The match was decided in the fifth set with the Yellowjackets upsetting the Vikings 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 15-13) for their first win against them in 9 years. A notable performance was freshman Kenzie Nealon, making her collegiate volleyball debut and tallying 11 kills to help the 'Jackets take the match. 

The Vikings came out swinging in the first set getting up 13-5 early due to their attacking efficiency. WWU had 16 kills, and an impressive .419 hitting percentage that carried them to a 25-16 win in the set. Aubrey Allison led the 'Jackets offense with three kills, behind Allison was Nealon that had her first career kill in an MSUB uniform. 

The 'Jackets came out hot early in the second set leading 7-3, behind Nealon with three kills early in the set. However, the Vikings didn't shy away as they had a 6-0 run making it 16-15, bringing them back within one. The 'Jackets were the first to match point, but again, the Vikings battled to stay in the set with four consecutive points notching the set at 24-24. With the match tied up, another Kenzie Nealon kill, and a WWU attacking error was all the Yellowjackets needed to take the set 26-24 and tie the sets up 1-1. 

The Yellowjackets offense continued to have success across the board as they had five players with at least four kills at this point in the match, with Olivia Schwartz having 12 herself on her way to a phenomenal game. The third set was another nail biter as the teams went back-and-forth, point-for-point. With a 20-20 score late in the match, the 'Jackets were able to go on a 5-1 run to win the set 25-21 to go up 2-1 in the match. 
 

The Vikings flipped the script in the fourth set getting up 10-4 early due to four attacking errors by the 'Jackets. MSUB was able to bring it within one point at 16-15. Ultimately the Vikings were able to take the set 25-22, with a mixture of kills, service aces, and capitalization on Yellowjacket errors.  
 

A familiar fifth-set was upcoming once again for the Yellowjackets, holding a 1-4 record on the year in 5-set matches. This experience seemed to pay off for the 'Jackets today as they played a complete fifth-set and knocked off the Vikings. 
 

In the final set of the match both teams were striking back and forth with the fans of Alterowitz on the edge of their seats. The set was a true back-and-forth battle the entire match. The Vikings jumped out to a 7-5 lead, but the 'Jackets quickly tied it at 10. After the Vikings took a 12-11 lead, Schwartz came back with a thundering kill and to tie it up at 12. After once again being tied up at 13-13, the 'Jackets had another kill by Schwartz to get to match point and get all of Alterowitz on their feet. The Yellowjackets were ready to upset Western Washington, give them their second conference loss, and defeat them for the first time in 9 years. The Yellowjackets did just that. Hailey Carroll had a good serve and forced the Vikings into a hitting error that allowed the 'Jackets to take the victory 15-13 and rush the court to celebrate. 

"I thought we did a great job of staying passionate the entire day," said head coach Casey Bonner. "We had a total team win there and our defense was relentless. Emma did a great job of moving the ball around and finding the hot hand. Our team stepped up in a unique situation and played phenomenal in a great team win."  

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: 

• Kenzie Nealon – 11 kills 

• Olivia Schwartz – 19 kills, .283 hitting percentage 

• Christine Funk – 18 digs 

• Aubrey Allison – 11 kills, 14 digs 

• Paiten Langston – 10 kills, 1.5 total blocks 

• Hannah Hayden – 3.5 blocks 

THE BUZZ: Emma Fa'alogo was awarded as the Intermountain Health Player of the Game. Fa'alogo tallied a career high 44 assists, 7 kills, 9 digs, and 0.5 total blocks in the five set match. 

UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket volleyball team heads to Seattle, WA to face off against the Seattle Pacific Falcons on October 14th. Next week is the Yellowjackets' travel partner week, so they will only have one match on Saturday.