2007 Volleyball Weekly Release #1 (August 21)

Click HERE for this week's Yellowjacket Volleyball Show

The Jackets were picked to finish fourth in the highly competitive Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The top four teams in the coaches poll, Western Washington, Seattle Pacific, Central Washington, and MSU Billings, all reached the NCAA Tournament last season.  The Yellowjackets did it as the conference champion in the Heartland Conference.  Now that they're in the GNAC, the road to the postseason will likely be rougher.

"It's great to be ranked fourth, especially entering our first year in this very competitive conference,” said first-year Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub.  “We are looking forward to a high level of play each night and anticipate long rallies and fun volleyball to play and watch.  I have the utmost respect for each team we will face this year and am excited to start our GNAC schedule." 

A player had 30 or more kills in a match — Nov. 12, 2004 (Jessica Bratton, 33 vs. Western New Mexico)

A player had 25-29 kills in a match — Sept. 30, 2006 (Jessica Bratton, 25 vs. Texas A&M-International)

A player had 60 or more assists in a match — Sept. 2, 2006 (Natalie Bills, 66 vs. Fort Lewis)

A player had 25 or more digs in a match — Sept. 8, 2006 (Nicole Kruse (28) & Ali Watson (25) vs. Central Okla.)

A player had 5 or more aces in a match — Sept. 22, 2006 (Natalie Bills, 6 vs. Dallas Baptist)

A player had 10 or more blocks in a match — Sept. 22, 2006 (Alicia Cazemier, 10 vs. Dallas Baptist)

A player had 5-9 blocks in a match — October 17, 2006 (Jessica Lechner, 7 vs. Rocky Mountain College)

The team had an attack percentage over.300 — Oct. 20, 2006 (.400 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State)

The team had 70 or more kills in a match — Oct. 17, 2006 (72 vs. Rocky Mountain College)

The team had 70 or more assists in a match — Sept. 2, 2006 (77 vs. Fort Lewis)

The team had 100 or more digs in a match — Sept. 8, 2006 (116 vs. Central Okla.)

The team had 10 or more blocks in a match — Oct. 17, 2006 (11.0 vs. Rocky Mountain College)

Kills
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (526)
Career – 1. Jessica Bratton (1,376); 4. Alicia Cazemier (1,010)

Assists
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (1,327)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (4,354)

Digs
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (440)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (1,530); 7. Nicole Kruse (793)

Service Aces
Season – 1. Nicole Kruse (62)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (178); 5. Nicole Kruse (104); 6. Alicia Cazemier (88)

Total Blocks
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (169)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (403) 

Solo Blocks
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (67)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (143)

Block Assists
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (119)
Career – 1. Jody Newberry (285); 2. Alicia Cazemier (260)

Attack Percentage
Season – 1. Andrea Donahue (.373)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (.315)

Kills per Game
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (4.61)
Career – 1. Ali Watson (4.10); 6. Alicia Cazemier (3.34) 

Assists per Game
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (12.52)
Career – 1. Natalie Bills (12.16)

Blocks per Game
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (1.52)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (1.33) 

Digs per Game
Season – 1. Connie Meyer (4.75)
Career – 1. Connie Meyer (3.96); 4. Nicole Kruse (3.76)

Games Played
Career – 1. Gina Langer (462); 11. Alicia Cazemier (302); 21. Nicole Kruse (211)

Sara Schaub was hired as the Yellowjackets' tenth head coach since the program was reinstated in 1984. Schaub’s coaching experience was most recently at Division I Eastern Michigan University where she was the first assistant since 2002.  She helped the Eagles to the program’s first Mid-America Conference West Division Championship in 2005.  Schaub’s responsibilities were recruiting, practice organization, and leading a successful volleyball camp program at Eastern.   

“I am extremely excited and honored to be the next head coach at MSU Billings,” said Schaub.  “I am very grateful to Dr. Gray and the entire search committee for giving me this opportunity.  I feel very fortunate to join such an upbeat and visionary department.  I look forward to working with the student-athletes, building an exciting program, and being part of the Billings community.”

Schaub, originally from Huron, Ohio, was a four-year starter for the Eastern Michigan Eagles as an outside hitter.  Schaub is the only player in Mid-American Conference history to average over four kills and four digs per game in the same season.  She currently holds the record at Eastern Michigan for career attack attempts and is second for career kills and digs, sixth for career aces, and seventh for career block assists.

Schaub graduated from Eastern Michigan in 2001 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Accounting Information Systems.  She also holds a Master of Science in Accounting, graduating Magna Cum Laude from EMU in 2002.  In her free time, Schaub is an avid beach volleyball player and has participated in the Association of Volleyball Professionals, Extreme Volleyball Professionals, and Midwest Professional Volleyball Association, winning many events.

Jay Christensen begins the season as a first-year assistant coach for the Lady Yellowjackets. With a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science-Sports Medicine, he also is a second year graduate student in the athletic training program. 

Christensen moved to Billings from Laie, Hawaii, and comes with a varied athletic background. All-state in soccer and four-time state champion in swimming, he played soccer for a U-17 team throughout Europe and after high school helped represent the United States, swimming in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. 

He enjoys surfing, golfing, swimming, basketball, soccer and reading.  Jay, his wife Cassandra and son Kai live in Billings.

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