BILLINGS, Mont.- The Montana State University Yellowjacket volleyball team (3-24) faced off against the Saint Martin's University Saints (16-11) in their final match of the season where they honored their five seniors for senior day. They 'Jackets played some of their best volleyball to date in front of the packed senior day crowd but were unable to come out victorious, dropping their last match of the season to Saint Martin's 3-1 (21-25, 29-27, 21-25, 25-23).
 
In the opening set of the match, the Yellowjackets seniors came out hot in front of their family and friends, getting out to an early 4-2 lead behind Olivia Schwartz with the fist kill of the night. Paiten Langston and Schwartz also combined for a block to get the 'Jacket defense going. From there it was a true back-and-forth battle with the Saints up 14-12 halfway through the set. Schwartz and Bailey Nichols were leading the way for the MSUB offense with two kills apiece. SMU slowly pulled away behind an impressive 18 kills, helping lead them to a 25-20 win in the opening set.
 
The Saints carried their momentum into the second set getting ahead to an early 12-7 lead until Emma Fa'alogo sparked the 'Jackets with a service ace, partnered with a pair of kills by Julia Gordon to bring them back within three. SMU then pulled away again, capitalizing on Yellowjacket hitting and service errors and hitting an impressive .386 to reach a 20-12 lead. The 'Jackets didn't give up as they went on a 5-2 run of their own behind a Paiten Langston service ace and a Hannah Hayden kill. With the Saints being the first team to match point, MSUB would go on an electrifying (8-0) run behind the serve of Fa'alogo who had 2 service aces and Bailey Nichols that had 3 kills during the run to tie up the match at 25. The match point would continue into extra points, but the 'Jackets were not able to complete the comeback, dropping the set 27-29 in favor of the Saints.
 
After the narrow second-set loss the Alterowitz atmosphere helped shift the momentum back to the Yellowjackets. Freshman Bailey Nichols played a big role in the momentum shift as well as she came alive having 11 kills, and hitting .471 at this point in the match, helping the 'Jackets get ahead 8-7 early in the third set. Halfway through the third set it proved to be another nail-biter with both squads playing well and were notched up at 10, 13, and 15 apiece. Hannah Hayden and Paiten Langston were able to break the tie with a block that got the Yellowjacket fan onto their feet. The set continued to be a tight battle as they were tied up again at 18, 19, and 20 with Nichols breaking the tie with another kill tallied onto her impressive stat line. That was all they needed as the Yellowjackets were first to match point with Olivia Schwartz putting it away to take the set 25-21 in favor of the 'Jackets.
 
The fourth set was another close set off the rip, tied up at 5 apiece. Hailey Carroll got the 'Jackets going with her third and the team's 11^th service ace of the game so far. MSUB was playing well across the board up to this point having five players with 6+ kills, a team hitting percentage of .228, 10 team total blocks, three players with 9+ digs and five players with at least one service ace. The red hot Yellowjackets had all the momentum pulling ahead to their largest lead of the night 21-16. The Saints didn't give up as they flipped the script going on a late 7-2 run of their own and tying it up at 23-all. After a Yellowjacket timeout SMU was able to score back-to-back points to take the fourth set 25-23, winning the match 3-1.
 
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Julia Gordon – 7 kills, .385 hitting percentage, 4 blocks
Emma Fa'alogo – 23 assists, 5 service aces, 9 digs
Christine Funk – 17 digs, 6 assists, 1 service ace
Olivia Schwartz – 8 kills, 3 blocks
Paiten Langston – 5 kills, 5 blocks
Hailey Carroll – 15 assists, 3 service aces, 10 digs
Aubrey Allison – 8 kills, 8 digs, 6 assists, 1 service ace
 
THE BUZZ: Freshman Bailey Nichols was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting a career high 18 kills with a .325 hitting percentage.
 
The Yellowjackets closed out 2023 season after today's senior day GNAC matchup. Stay tuned for a spring exhibition schedule following their winter off-season.