Lady
Jackets Down Chaminade for First Conference Win (Oct.
31, 2003)
Box Score
BILLINGS, MT – Halloween was definitely more treat
than trick for the MSU Billings volleyball team as the Yellowjackets
downed Chaminade for their first PacWest conference victory of the season. Three Yellowjackets recorded
double-digit kills in the winning effort, led by Olivia Munro’s
(Jr., Toronto, Ontario) match-high 21. Chaminade entered the week ranked
No. 7 in the Pacific Region.
“I think the biggest thing tonight was being at
home,” said Yellowjacket head coach Pa’ulasi
Matavao, who tied the school record with his 38th career
win. “We finally got to play a home match and we kind of put it together
tonight. We sped up our offense this week for Chaminade and we did a good
job running it tonight.”
MSU Billings took a 2-0 lead in the match with two of
their best offensive games of the year. The Yellowjackets out-hit the
Silverswords .208 to .151 in the first game and .257 to .093 in the
second. Chaminade bounced back in game three, building a ten-point lead
early and holding on for a six-point win. Kahala Kabalis led the
Silverswords with 20 kills, and Valasi Sepulona added 18.
“Chaminade is a good team, said Matavao. “They pick
up a lot of balls and they’re scrappy. I thought we did a good job on
their outside hitters. That’s what they rely on, and we did a good job
forcing them to make decisions.”
The Yellowjackets rebounded for a convincing win in
the fourth and deciding game, out-hitting the Swords .304 to .174. The
.304 hitting percentage was the sixth highest single-game percentage for
MSU Billings this season. Jessica Bratton (Fr., Casper, WY) carried a big part of the load in the final game,
finishing the match with 16 kills and a .209 hitting percentage.
“Jessica came through with some big kills in the last
game,” said Matavao. “There were three or four times when we went to her
late in the match and she came through. Of course, Olivia had another
good night, too. We’re going to her more this year and trying to get her
more sets, so she’s putting up good numbers.”
Katrina
Dahlgren (Sr., Missoula, MT) added 10 kills and four block assists,
and setter Kari
Jones (Jr., Hermiston, OR) had a big night with 51 assists, 21 digs,
five block assists and one solo block.
“Katrina had a big game offensively,” said Matavao.
“That was one of her better offensive games. She didn’t have a lot of
errors and she was able to put the ball down. That helped us in the last
game because they were concerned with where she was. That gave us some
chances to make some plays offensively.”
The Yellowjackets (5-16, 1-7) and Silverswords (9-10,
4-4) will meet again Saturday night in a non-conference match. Game time
is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium.
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