November 10, 2007
 

Crusaders March On With 3-1 Win
Box Score
MSUB Season Stats
Match Photos

BILLINGS, Mont. – Northwest Nazarene overcame a cold hitting night to defeat Montana State Billings 3-1 in GNAC volleyball on Saturday.  The 20-30, 31-29, 30-26, 30-18 win likely propelled the Crusaders into the NCAA Tournament and ended the Yellowjackets’ season. 

NNU entered the week ranked sixth in the NCAA Pacific Region and won both of its matches to improve to 17-8 overall and 11-6 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  The Yellowjackets dropped to 18-10, 10-8 with Saturday’s loss.

“We knew our last match was going to be tough as Northwest Nazarene was ranked sixth in the region for a reason,” said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub.  “Northwest Nazarene did a good job of keeping their composure and staying solid throughout the whole match.”

Northwest Nazarene didn’t have a hitting percentage above .100 in any of the first three games, yet the Crusaders bounced back from a game one loss to take a 2-1 lead in the match.  For the night, NNU hit 58 points below its season average, but it was aided by 14 Yellowjacket service errors.

With an NCAA Tourney berth within reach, the Crusaders dominated the fourth game to close out the match.  They doubled up the Jackets at 14-7 and never looked back.  In the final game NNU had 16 kills and just two errors for a .500 attack percentage.

Cammy Dranginis and Lindsay Forseth accounted for 21 of the Crusaders’ 48 kills in the match.  Dranginis finished with 11 and Forseth with 10.  Dranginis was also in on six of the Crusaders’ 14 blocks as was Chelsea Pelton.

The Yellowjackets had three players hit for double-digit kills.  Devon Crotteau and Alicia Cazemier each finished with 16, and Jennifer Boe added 11.  Crotteau also picked up a match-high 19 digs.  Jessica Lechner had eight kills, and Nicole Kruse picked up a dozen digs.

Saturday’s match was senior night for Cazemier and Kruse as well as sophomore Katrina Solomon, who will transfer next year to pursue a nursing degree.

“I thank our two seniors and Katrina for their hard work this season,” said Schaub.  “I was honored to coach them this year.”