October 27, 2007
 

Jackets Swept by League Leading Vikings
Box Score
MSUB Season Stats

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Conference leader Western Washington won its 12th-straight match Saturday, sweeping Montana State Billings 30-16, 30-23, 30-16 in GNAC volleyball.  The Vikings moved closer to a conference championship, improving to 17-4 overall and 13-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  WWU is ranked second in the Pacific Region.

"Western definitely played like the No. 1 team in the conference," said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub.  "They are solid offensively and defensively.  Any mistake we made, they took advantage of."

While Western extended a winning streak that dates back to mid-September, MSU Billings went in the opposite direction with its fifth-straight GNAC road loss.  The Yellowjackets, ranked ninth in the Pacific Region this week, dropped to 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the conference.  MSUB has gone 4-6 in its last 10 matches.

The Vikings jumped all over the Jackets from the beginning, hammering out 15 kills with just three errors in the opening game.  Western Washington posted game hitting percentages of .343, .263, and .457 and finished with a match hitting percentage of .352.  In the third game, the Vikings didn’t have an attack error on 35 attempts.

The Vikings’ Jaime Anderson led all players with 17 kills on a .410 hitting percentage.  Tiana Roma added 10 kills without an error.  Combined, Anderson and Roma accounted for 27 kills with just one error on 60 attempts.  Roma was also in on six blocks.

Jennifer Boe (Casper, Wyo.) and Devon Crotteau (Casper, Wyo.) each had 11 kills for the Yellowjackets.  Alicia Cazemier (Vauxhall, Alberta), who broke the school career kills record on Thursday, had eight kills.  The Yellowjackets hit just .129 as a team, committing 24 hitting errors to the Vikings’ seven.

The Yellowjackets’ grueling stretch of road matches is over, and they will finish the season with four-straight matches at home.  MSUB has played six of its last eight matches away from Alterowitz Gym.  The four-match home stand starts Nov. 1 against Rocky Mountain College.  All of the Jackets’ final four matches will feature live web video streaming at www.pennatlantic.com.