Jackets Fall to Cardinals in Five (11/4/05)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – Incarnate Word survived two blowouts to defeat Montana State-Billings 3-2 Friday night in Heartland Conference play.  The Cardinals won 31-29, 16-30, 30-24, 10-30, 15-11 to improve to 16-15 overall and 8-2 in the conference.  The Yellowjackets fell to 19-6, 7-4.  The win gives the Cardinals the edge to gain the No. 2 seed at next week’s Heartland Conference Championship Tournament.

It was a Jekyll and Hyde type of match with the Cardinals hanging on to win the odd number games while the Yellowjackets cruised through games two and four.  The pair of lopsided wins contributed to the Yellowjackets’ .219 to .179 advantage in team attack percentage.  MSU Billings also had 13 more kills in the match and 13 more service aces.  But the Cardinals out-blocked the Jackets 14-6 and came up with the crucial points in the close games.

Incarnate Word was led by 19 kills from Kari Chapman.  She led all players with a .417 attack percentage on 36 attempts and was also in on seven blocks.  Brandi Garcia had a dozen kills to go with 11 digs.  Kim Kvapil added 11 kills and nine digs.  Hannah Werchan had a game-high 17 digs while setter Jackie Napoles handed out 51 assists.

The Yellowjackets were paced by a season-high 21 kills from Jessica Bratton (Jr., Casper, WY).  She hit .326 on 43 attempts and was also in on three blocks.  Alicia Cazemier (So., Vauxhall, Alberta) finished with 18 kills and five blocks.  Ali Watson (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) added 16 kills and 14 digs.  Setter Natalie Bills (Jr., Provo, UT) also had a double-double with 62 assists and 13 digs.  It was the third time this season Bills has recorded at least 60 assists.

Jessica Lechner (Fr., Pompeys Pillar, MT) had an efficient eight kills on 19 attempts.  Alexis Sandru (Jr., Twin Bridges, MT) added seven kills and 10 digs.  Libero Nicole Kruse (So., Huntley, MT) picked up a dozen digs, and Taylor Faught (Fr., Billings, MT) led all players with four service aces.

The Yellowjackets and Cardinals will square off Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Alterowitz Gymnasium.  The game will be the regular season finale for the Yellowjackets, who have already qualified for the Heartland Conference Tournament.  All that’s left to be determined is their seed.  Along with the Jackets and Cardinals, Western New Mexico and St. Mary’s will meet November 11-12 in Austin, TX for the Heartland Conference championship.

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