Mustangs Down Jackets for Heartland Title (11/12/05)
Box Score

AUSTIN, TX – Western New Mexico rode the arm of Stephanie Higgins Saturday night to defeat Montana State-Billings 3-1 for the Heartland Conference Volleyball Championship.  The Mustangs (26-4) gained the conference’s automatic entry into next week’s NCAA Tournament.

After surprising Incarnate Word with a 3-0 sweep in the semifinals on Friday, MSU Billings (20-8) jumped out to an early lead in Saturday’s title match.  The Yellowjackets trailed most of the way in the first game as Western marched to a 29-24 lead.  The Jackets survived five game points and eventually went on to win 33-31 for a 1-0 advantage in the match.

“Our kids played well,” said Yellowjacket head coach Pa’ulasi Matavao.  “They fought like they were supposed to fight in a championship match.  Western just had too many weapons.  We couldn’t stop Stephanie Higgins, and they were just the better team tonight.”

The match belonged to the Mustangs after the first game as they went on to win the next three, 30-14, 30-16, 30-24.  Higgins, an all-region candidate and the Heartland Conference leader in kills, pounded out 24 kills on 58 attempts to carry the load for the Mustangs.  She has over 550 kills this season.

Despite Higgins’s big night, the Yellowjackets still had a 62-59 edge in total kills.  But it was the hitting percentages that proved to be the difference in the match.  MSU Billings hit just .093 as a team and had 43 attack errors.  The Mustangs had a solid .237 attack percentage with only 19 errors on 169 attempts.

The Yellowjackets’ Alicia Cazemier (So., Vauxhall, Alberta) had another productive match with a team-high 21 kills on 44 attempts with a .250 attack percentage.  Cazemier and Natalie Bills (Jr., Provo, UT) combined on the Jackets’ only two blocks in the match.

Bills handed out 54 assists and also added eight digs.  Outside hitters Jessica Bratton (Jr., Casper, WY) and Ali Watson (Jr., Calgary, Alberta) combined for 27 kills.  Bratton knocked down 15 on 54 attempts while Watson finished with a dozen kills.  Watson also had a team-high 19 digs.  Jessica Lechner (Fr., Pompeys Pillar, MT) added seven kills.

Four Yellowjackets were in double digits for digs.  Along with Watson, Nicole Kruse (So., Huntley, MT) had 18, Alexis Sandru (Jr., Twin Bridges, MT) had 17, and Taylor Faught (Fr., Billings, MT) added 10.

Higgins had help from Jennifer Snowbarger and Janiel McNeill, who posted 13 and 10 kills respectively.  Meghan Watson picked up 21 digs, and setter Courtney Heiser handed out 50 assists.  Heiser was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“I’m proud of these kids and what they were able to do this year,” said Matavao.  “I’m proud of how well they came together to get us here.”

The Yellowjackets advanced to the Heartland Conference Championship match in their inaugural season as a conference member.  Both MSU Billings and Western New Mexico were new to the league this year.  Western has already agreed to join another conference beginning next season.

Heartland Conference All-Tournament Team
Anna Seals (St. Mary’s)
Kari Chapman (Incarnate Word)
Ali Watson (MSU Billings)
Alicia Cazemier (MSU Billings)
Janiel McNeill (Western NM)
Stephanie Higgins (Western NM)

MVP – Courtney Heiser (Western NM)