BILLINGS, Mont.- Alterowitz Gym was buzzing Thursday night as fans dressed in black packed the stands to support the Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket volleyball team. Despite a valiant effort, MSUB (1-4) fell in straight sets to a dominant Alaska Fairbanks squad. The Nanooks improved to 10-1 on the season, adding another win to their impressive resume, which includes two victories over ranked opponents.
"I'm so proud of what our team did tonight," said head coach
Scott Keister. "We focused on two things this week, blocking and grit and we showed both of those tonight. I thought we blocked well against an outstanding offensive team. We still have a lot of work to do but it's great for the team to see fruits of their labor this week. I really enjoyed seeing them fight through the tough moments in the match. We got better today and that's what matters."
The Yellowjackets came out strong in the opening set, racing to a 4-1 lead behind kills from
Marissa Allen,
Jordin Taulua, and
Tehani Moniz. Fairbanks quickly responded with a 5-0 run of their own. A kill by
Stella Scott, assisted by
Kenzie Allen, evened the score at 8-8. MSUB briefly regained the lead at 15-14 after a 6-1 surge, but the Nanooks took over from there, closing the set on a 10-2 run to claim a 25-19 win. Allen and
Allie Dorman added late kills, but the momentum stayed with UAF.
The second set started with promise as MSUB led 3-2, highlighted by a service ace from Dorman. But the Nanooks quickly found their rhythm, capitalizing on MSUB errors and executing cleanly on their end. The result: a dominant 25-10 set win for Alaska Fairbanks.
The third set delivered plenty of drama. Fairbanks led from the third point onward and built a seven-point advantage. But MSUB refused to back down. Trailing 19-12, the Yellowjackets mounted a thrilling 7-1 rally to pull within one at 20-19. The Nanooks answered with a 3-0 spurt, but the Jackets countered again with three straight points of their own, making it 23-22. In the end, Fairbanks sealed the deal with two clutch points to take the set 25-22 and complete the sweep.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
Marissa Allen: 9 Kills, .375 Hitting Percentage, 4 Block Assists
Jordin Taulua: 5 Kills, 11 Digs, 2 Block Assists, 1 Ace
Allie Dorman: 5 Kills, 4 Digs, 1 Ace
Reese Sherwood: 12 Assists, 7 Digs
THE BUZZ: Marissa Allen was named Intermountain Health Player of the Game after posting nine kills with four block assists and a .375 hitting percentage.
UP NEXT: The Montana State University Billings Yellowjacket volleyball team is back home Saturday at 1:00 PM for another last frontier matchup against the University of Alaska Anchorage.
