Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SPEARFISH, South Dak. – The Montana State University Billings volleyball team lost yet another five set match in the final day of the Yellow Jacket Classic in Spearfish, SD. They started the morning slate by losing 15-13 in the 5^th set against University of Mary. South Dakota Mines was able to complete the sweep in the night cap.

GAME 1 – MSU Billings vs University of Mary
 
The Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets (2-5) fell in yet another five-set thriller to the University of Mary Marauders (4-3). The 'Jackets dropped the first set 25-15 before winning the next two 27-25 and 25-22. The Marauders responded by taking the fourth set 25-18 which forced yet another deciding 5^th set for the Jackets – their 4^th in 7 matches this season.
 
Quickly forgetting about the first set, the 'Jackets switched up their line-up and jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Senior Olivia Schwartz started with 3 kills in the first 5 points, guiding her team to a 16-10 advantage. However, the Marauders would quickly counter and eventually take a 24-22 lead. Kills by Schwartz and Bailey Nichols, plus errors by the Marauders would let the Jackets end the set on a 5-1 run and tie the match up at 1 game each.
 
The 'Jackets kept their momentum rolling into the third set, never trailing en route to a 25-22 win. Paiten Langston had 6 kills in the set as the senior middle led the way for the Jackets to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The fourth set saw the Jackets jump out to a 13-12 lead, but eventually the Marauders would finish the set off with a 25-18 win.
 
Now, it was time for the ever-so-familiar decisive 5^th set. The Jackets have now played a total of 7 matches, having 4 of them go to a 5^th set. On the crossover, the Marauders took an 8-4 lead seemingly having all the momentum, but senior Kennedy Juranek stole momentum back behind her strong serve that was followed by Schwartz and Langston adding two kills each and the 5^th set was quickly tied up 10-10. The Jackets were the first to 13, but the Marauders eventually won 16-14 behind kills from Ally Gruber.
 
Senior libero Christine Funk was impressive once again as she set a new career-high in digs with 33. Langston had 14 kills and only 1 error on 35 swings which equaled an impressive .371 hitting %. Schwartz tallied 13 kills in her best match of the new season and freshman Julia Gordon registered 11. Freshman setter Emma Fa'alogo set a new career-high with 33 assists as she was in control of the Jackets offense after the 1^st set.
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
 

• Emma Fa'alogo – 33 assists, 13 digs, 2 blocks
• Paiten Langtson – 14 kills, 4 blocks, .371%
• Olivia Schwartz – 13 kills, 2 blocks
• Christine Funk – 33 digs

 
THE BUZZ: Christine Funk is the Intermountain Health Player of the Game. Funk registered another career high with 33 digs and added 7 assists in the 5-set match.
 
 
GAME 2 – MSU Billings vs SD Mines
 
In their second match of the day, the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets (2-6) lost to the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers (6-2) in a 3-set match. The 'Jackets lost the first set in a 25-23 heartbreaker. The 'Jackets lost the second set 25-17 before eventually losing the third 25-20.
 
The Yellowjackets got off to a slow start as the Rockers jumped out to a 10-5 lead to begin the match. The 'Jackets quickly rode a service run by Paiten Langston to take a 13-12 lead as the senior middle only registered one ace, but her impressive serves contributed to many free ball opportunities that the Jackets were able to put away. It was quickly a race to 25 as no team led by two points until the finish, resulting in the Rockers winning 25-23. In the set, freshman Aubrey Allison led the Jackets with 4 kills, followed by freshman Julia Gordon and senior Olivia Schwartz with 3 each.
 
The second set started eerily familiar with the Rockers up 13-7 before a timeout by head coach Casey Bonner. An error by SD Mines set up the strong serve from Langston. She quickly got the Rockers to send an overpass over the net for a Julia Gordon kill followed by an Emma Fa'alogo block to bring the score to 13-10. Despite some back-and-forth points, the Rockers would finish strong and claim the 2^nd set by a score of 25-17.
 
In the third set, the Jackets jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead to flip the momentum of the game. The Jackets found themselves tied 10-10 which set up an exciting finish. The Rockers were the first team to 20 as they were closing in on the match. They would end up winning 25-17.
 
The Jackets were led on offense by Emma Fa'alogo dishing out 25 assists. Gordon led the offensive attack with 10 kills, followed by Schwartz with 8 and Langston and Allison with 6 each.
 
 
 
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
 

• Julia Gordon – 10 kills, .318%
• Emma Fa'alogo – 25 assists, 5 digs
• Olivia Schwartz – 8 kills

 
THE BUZZ: Julia Gordon is the Intermountain Health Player of the Game. She continues her strong freshman campaign with 10 kills and only 3 errors while hitting .318% on the night.
 
 
HEAR FROM COACH BONNER: "I was proud of our fight in the morning match against Mary. Those five-set matches are a sprint to 15 and each one of them we are just a few points away. This team knows how to fight until the end. I am proud of what they have learned in these first two tournaments, and we are excited to keep improving as we get into GNAC play next week. I think everyone can tell this team is starting to gel together and I am excited to see what we can make out of this season."
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets will head to Lacey, WA and Monmouth, OR to open up GNAC play on the road next week. Thursday's match against St. Martin's University will be at 7 PM (PST).