2007 Volleyball Weekly Release #7 (October 1)

Sat., Oct. 6 - at Seattle University, 8 p.m. MDT
Live stats available at www.goseattleu.com

Click HERE to read Alicia Cazemier's blog about last week.

Click HERE to listen to this week's Yellowjacket Volleyball Show featuring head coach Sara Schaub and freshman outside hitter Jennifer Boe
 

Losing hold of first place hardly means the end of the Jackets' chances for a second-straight conference title, however.  They sit just a half game behind Western Washington and Western Oregon, and MSUB still has both of those teams once more on the schedule.  The GNAC race is still probably a six-team race at this point, although Western Washington, Western Oregon, and MSU Billings have put a little distance between them and the trio of 4-3 teams tied for fourth.  The next two weeks--with three conference road matches--will be critical for the Yellowjackets to stay in the hunt.

"Western Washington played really consistent," said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub of Thursday's 30-23, 30-22, 30-21 loss.  "They have one of the best defenses in the conference.  It shook us up a little, and we tried to do too much on offense individually.  We ended up making more errors because of that.  I thought our defense did do a good job.  We had three people in double-digit digs.  We just had trouble putting the ball away." 

Western Washington hit a solid .280 for the match while holding the Yellowjackets to a .131 hitting percentage.  It was the Jackets’ lowest match hitting percentage since Aug. 31.  Only five Vikings recorded kills in the match, but Western Washington was efficient and benefited from 24 Yellowjacket errors.

The Yellowjackets didn’t have a player reach double digits for kills.  Jennifer Boe, Devon Crotteau and Jessica Lechner downed nine kills apiece.  Lechner had the best night at the net for MSUB, posting a .467 attack percentage.  Alicia Cazemier was held to just seven kills on a career-low .000 attack percentage.  Boe, Stefanie Aladjova and Nicole Kruse each had double-digit digs.

Just two days after having a five-match winning streak snapped, the Yellowjackets were dominating against Central Washington on Saturday.  The Jackets hit a solid .248 over the four games, winning 30-22, 25-30, 30-22, 30-20.

The Yellowjackets’ only hiccup came in the second game when they were held to a .057 hitting percentage.  They had little trouble in the other three games, posting percentages of .500, .216, and .320.  The Yellowjacket defense set up the attack, out-digging the Wildcats 47-35 and out-blocking them 16-11.

“Right away Stefania (Aladjova) did a good job spreading the ball around, and we got our offense in a rhythm,” said Schaub.  “In practice this week we worked on being smarter hitters so we didn’t make as many unforced errors.”

Three Yellowjackets posted double-digit kills off Aladjova’s 44 assists.  Alicia Cazemier led the way with 15 kills on a .478 hitting percentage.  She had just four errors in 23 attempts.  Jennifer Boe and Devon Crotteau each knocked down 14 kills.  The Jackets’ .248 match hitting percentage was their third-highest of the season.

Cazemier led the Jackets’ block, posting four solo blocks and seven block assists.  Katrina Solomon (Billings) was in on five blocks, and Aladjova and Jessica Lechner each had four.

“Alicia stepped up in the senior captain role and led our team,” said Schaub.  “We also had a good night out of Katrina.  Along with her solid setting, Stefania had a great night serving.  Her five aces came at key points, and even when she wasn’t scoring with aces her serve kept them off balance.”

Crotteau and Boe each notched double-doubles for kills and digs.  Crotteau had a match-high 15 digs while Boe finished with 10. 

“Both of our outside hitters did a good job of being aggressive throughout the whole match,” Schaub said of the Casper duo.  “They didn’t have great percentages, but they were key for us tonight.  Overall we came out fired up and ready to play.”

Record Watch:
Senior Alicia Cazemier will likely move up to the No. 2 spot in school history for career kills this week.  She enters the week with 1,272, needing just 16 to tie and 17 to pass Olivia Munro.  Cazemier had had 16 or more kills in 11 matches this season.  If she is able to catch Jessica Bratton's 1,376, there's an outside chance that Cazemier will do it at home.  There's a possibility that it could happen during the Jackets' swing to Washington at the end of October, but if it doesn't, MSUB plays its last four matches at home in early November....Setter Stefania Aladjova looks to be the first player this year to break into the top 10 for any single-season school record.  She enters this week 12th for single season service aces and 14th for assists.  Aladjova could move up the aces chart quickly.  Even though she's still two spots out of the top 10, she's only 18 aces from the school record.  There have only been two matches this season in which Aladjova has had fewer than two aces.  She'll break the single season school record (held by Nicole Kruse) if she averages only two aces per match the rest of the way.

From the GNAC:
GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Alyssa Given, Seattle Pacific (OH, 5-10, Sr., Salinas, CA) and Tiana Roma, Western Washington (MB, 6-0, Jr., Edmonds, WA – Edmonds-Woodway). . .Given had 49 kills and hit for a .312 percentage in establishing a SPU career-record for kills as the Falcons split a pair of 3-2 matches.  Given also had a team-best eight blocks, 19 digs and three aces.  She currently leads the GNAC in kills (4.47), aces (53) and points (5.67).  She ranks sixth in GNAC history in career kills (1,261) and needs to average 18.2 kills in SPU’s final 11 regular-season matches to move into first-place on the conference’s all-time career chart.  She is also just 10 aces away from the GNAC career record of 182 by Erika Brunson of Seattle, who set the record between 2001 and 2004. . .Roma had 20 kills, a team-best six blocks and a .320 hitting percentage. Many of her kills and blocks were in key situations as Western Washington swept road contests at Billings and Seattle.  

HONORABLE MENTION: Megan Thigpen, Alaska Fairbanks (MH, 5-10, So., Spokane, WA - Mead) had 42 kills and 34 digs as the Nanooks came within two points of earning a sweep at Nampa and Brougham Pavilion, winning the fifth game with NNU 15-12 before losing Game 5 to Seattle University 16-14.  Thigpen had 18 kills including the match point against the Crusaders, then added 24 more kills at SPU.

AROUND THE GNAC:  Western Washington was the only conference team to post a 2-0 record last week.  The Vikings have  won five straight matches, winning 15 of 16 games, since a 3-2 loss at Western Oregon.  Emily Castro had 26 kills and 24 digs in the two victories, while setter Katie Robinson had 73 assists as WWU doubled its opponents hitting percentage (.220 to .110).  Libero Courtney Schneider had 45 more digs, moving into ninth place on the NCAA Division II all-time  career chart with 2,222. . .Given and Angie Wodrich (39) combined for 88 kills, 66.2 percent of SPU’s team total in their two matches. . .Six players had between 12 and 24 kills, including Loni Evenson with 24, Chelsea Pelton with 22 and Cammy Dranginis with 21, as Northwest Nazarene split two matches.  Dranginis also had 10 blocks. . .Jennifer Boe and Devon Crotteau each had 23 kills and Alicia Cazemier had 22 as Montana State Billings split two matches.  Both Crotteau and Cazemier had 13-match streaks with 10 or more kills snapped in Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Western Washington. . .Rachael Schurman had 32 kills and Kady Try had 26 as the Wildcats earned a road split, despite being outhit .184 to .114.  Schurman also had 15 blocks and accounted for 40.5 of CWU’s 138 points. . .Rhea Cardwell had 21 kills, while Joanna Johnson, Kim Stolk and Rachel Kidwell had 20, 19 and 18, respectively, as Alaska Anchorage split two matches, winning at SPU for the first time since 2003 in ending a five-match losing streak. . .Seattle University’s Nikole Thompson had 30 kills and 25 digs increasing her  career kill total to 1,076. . .Kayla Mainer had 21 kills and 19 digs as Western Oregon maintained a tie for first-place in the GNAC with a 3-1 win over Saint Martin’s.  The Saints got 14 kills and 21 digs from Shealun Campisi, but fell for the 28^th straight time.

AROUND THE REGION:  The first official NCAA Division II Pacific Regional poll will be announced on Wednesday, Oct. 10. . .GNAC teams are 38-40 in non-conference matches.  The only two remaining non-conference contests remaining are in Billings as the Yellowjackets play at Rocky Mountain Tuesday and host the Bears Nov. 1. . . GNAC teams finished 22-25   against Pacific Region opponents, including 17-18 against CCAA teams and 5-7 against the PacWest. 

UPCOMING: Tuesday – MSU Billings at Rocky Mountain.  Thursday – Western Oregon at Alaska Anchorage; Saint Martin's at Alaska Fairbanks; Seattle Pacific at Central Washington; Northwest Nazarene at Western Washington.  Saturday – Saint Martin's at Alaska Anchorage; Western Oregon at Alaska Fairbanks, 3 p.m.; MSU Billings at Seattle; Northwest Nazarene at Central Washington; Seattle Pacific at Western Washington.   (All matches begin at 7 p.m.). 

CSTV/AVCA National Division II (Sept. 24) - 31. Western Washington. NCAA Division II Pacific Regional - The first poll will be released Oct. 10 by 1 p.m.  Polls will also be released on Oct. 24 and Nov. 7.

NCAA National Statistics (Sept. 23): Individuals (Top 50): Kills - 26. Alicia Cazemier, MSUB, 4.44; 28. Alyssa Given, SPU, 4.38; 30. Devon Crotteau, MSUB, 4.35; 48. Rachael Schurman, CWU, 4.09; 49. Jaime Anderson, WWU, 4.09. Hitting Percentage - 39. Rachael Schurman, CWU, .352. Assists - 34. Stefania Aladjova, MSUB, 11.80. Aces - 1. Alyssa Given, SPU, 1.00; 32. Stefanie Aladjova, MSUB, 0.70. Digs - 2. Courtney Schneider, WWU, 7.24. Blocks - 6. Angie Alvord, WWU, 1.57; 19. Emily Powell, SU, 1.41. Team (Top 50): Hitting PCT. - 26. Western Washington .249. Assists - 49. Montana State Billings 13.61. Aces - 39. Seattle Pacific 2.58. Digs - 10. Western Oregon 20.62, 16. Seattle 20.09. Blocks - 26. Western Washington 2.62; 47. Seattle 2.44; 48. Central Washington 2.44.

Click HERE for the complete GNAC weekly release.
 

Jessica Eliasson, a junior outside hitter from Roundup, leads the Bears at 3.08 kills per game.  She has a season hitting percentage of .265.  Kelly Fox and Sarah Madinger each average just over two kills per game.  Hailey Pearce directs the offense and averages 9.5 assists per game.

All-time Series:  MSUB leads series 25-9
Last Meeting: MSUB def. RMC 3-1 on Oct. 17, 2006 at home
 

Nikole Thompson leads the Redhawk offense and ranks seventh in the GNAC at 3.92 kills per game.  She was the conference player of the week last week for carrying Seattle to a pair of wins in Alaska.  The Redhawks had won three conference matches in a row before losing last week to Western Washington and Central Washington.

Middle blocker Emily Powell is adding 2.07 kills and 1.38 blocks per game.  The sophomore ranks second in the GNAC for blocks.  Josie Christiansen ranks eighth in the league for service aces.  As a team, Seattle ranks second in the GNAC for opponent hitting percentage and third for blocks. 

All-time Series:  MSUB leads series 1-0
Last Meeting: MSUB def. SU 3-2 on Oct. 14, 2000 in Billings
 

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 — Aug. 25, 2007 (Nicole Kruse (30) vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

A player had 5 or more aces in a match — Sept. 29, 2007 (Stefania Aladjova, 5 vs. Cent. Washington)

A player had 10 or more blocks in a match — Sept. 29, 2007 (Alicia Cazemier, 11 vs. Cent. Washington)

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 — Sept. 22, 2007 (70 vs. Alaska Anchorage)

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 15 or more blocks in a match — Sept. 29, 2007 (16.0 vs. Cent. Washington)

The team had 10-14 blocks in a match - Sept. 8, 2007 (11.0 vs. Seattle Pacific)

Kills
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (526)
Career – 1. Jessica Bratton (1,376); 3. Alicia Cazemier (1,272); 16. Jessica Lechner (446)

Assists
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (1,327); 14. Stefania Aladjova (709)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (4,354)

Digs
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (440)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (1,530); 5. Nicole Kruse (1,029)

Service Aces
Season – 1. Nicole Kruse (62); 12. Stefania Aladjova (44)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (178); 4. Nicole Kruse (116); 6. Alicia Cazemier (104)

Total Blocks
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (169)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (477); 15. Jessica Lechner (147)

Solo Blocks
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (67)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (155); 19. Jessica Lechner (29)

Block Assists
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (119)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (322); 12. Jessica Lechner (118)

Attack Percentage
Season – 1. Andrea Donahue (.373)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (.310); 5. Jessica Lechner (.235)

Kills per Game
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (4.61)
Career – 1. Ali Watson (4.10); 6. Alicia Cazemier (3.50) 

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 (1.31) 

Digs per Game
Season – 1. Connie Meyer (4.75)
Career – 1. Connie Meyer (3.96); 3. Nicole Kruse (3.78)

Games Played
Career – 1. Gina Langer (462); 5. Alicia Cazemier (363); 13. Nicole Kruse (272); 14. Jessica Lechner (269)

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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