Sat., Sept. 15 - vs. Western Oregon, 7 p.m., Alterowitz Gym

Click HERE for this week's Yellowjacket Volleyball Show featuring head coach Sara Schaub and sophomore outside hitter Devon Crotteau

The Yellowjackets made their first foray into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference last weekend, coming out of the road trip with a 1-1 mark.  They fell at upstart Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, 30-26, 30-21, 22-30, 30-23.  After what coaches and players alike described as a disappointing performance in Nampa, Idaho, the Yellowjackets opened the eyes of the entire GNAC on Saturday by shocking Seattle Pacific in Seattle 30-26, 30-22, 26-30, 30-21.

The match at Northwest Nazarene was the first GNAC contest for any MSU Billings sport since the school joined the conference.  The Yellowjackets had their four-match winning streak snapped by NNU, who was picked to finish sixth in the GNAC.

Stefania Aladjova

MSU Billings was led by Alicia Cazemier’s 19 kills.  She hit .286 on 42 attempts.  Devon Crotteau finished with 17 kills, and Jennifer Boe added 13.  The three combined for 49 of 60 Yellowjacket kills in the match.  Stefania Aladjova handed out 50 assists and dropped in three of the Yellowjackets’ 11 service aces.

“We had more kills and were more aggressive hitting than they were, and I thought Stefania did a good job of decision making” said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub.  “But we had 11 more errors than they did, and we can’t do that.” 

“They did a good job moving their attackers around and keeping the ball in play.  They played like they wanted to win.  They’re a solid team all the way around, and they have multiple attackers that do a good job.  Their control was very good, and they had relentless pursuit after every ball.”

On Saturday, Montana State Billings accomplished what no team had since 2004.  The Yellowjackets won a volleyball match at Seattle Pacific. 

Cazemier pounded out 19 kills to lead the Lady Jackets to an upset of the two-time defending conference champion Falcons.  The Jackets improved to 7-3 and won their first-ever Great Northwest Athletic Conference match to move to 1-1 in the league.

"Our team was just really excited to play after a disappointing loss on Thursday," said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub referring to MSUB's 3-1 loss at Northwest Nazarene.  "They had motivation to prove they are a better team than they were on Thursday.  This win proves to the players that it's in their hands.  On Thursday I thought we defeated ourselves.  Today we took control of the match from point one.  They made some adjustments in game three, but we were able to adjust to that.  This helps us know we can take control of our own fate."

Alicia Cazemier

The Jackets’ win snapped three Seattle Pacific winning streaks.  The Falcons entered the night with 21-straight GNAC wins at Brougham Pavilion, 28-straight GNAC wins overall, and 19-consecutive wins at home.  The last Falcons home conference loss came on Oct. 16, 2004.  During the 21-match home GNAC winning streak, 16 of the wins had been sweeps.

Cazemier’s 19 kills came on a .295 attack percentage.  The Yellowjackets hit .197 as a team to the Falcons’ .059.  Cazemier was also in on seven blocks.  Crotteau added 16 kills and 22 digs.  Boe finished with 13 kills and 15 digs.  Yellowjacket setter Aladjova handed out 52 assists.

Records Watch:  Alicia Cazemier is closing in on the No. 2 spot in school history for career kills.  She won't reach it this week, but will likely get there this month.  The senior middle blocker who holds ever blocking record at MSUB is 108 kills behind Olivia Munro for second and 196 behind Jessica Bratton for the all-time school record....Senior Nicole Kruse is approaching the 1,000 career digs mark.  She will enter this weekend with 955.  With six matches of 15 or more digs already this season, including a career-high 30 against Minnesota State Moorhead a few weeks ago, Kruse will likely hit 1,000 in the next two weeks.  Only four other players in school history have recorded over 1,000 digs in their careers.

Click HERE for head coach Sara Schaub's comments following Saturday's match

Click HERE for Alicia Cazemier's blog about the past week
 

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Kayla Mainer, Western Oregon (OH, 5-10, Jr., Spokane, WA – West Valley & North Idaho) had 36 kills, including 20 in a 3-2 win over Western Washington as the Wolves opened the conference season with two victories.  Mainer hit .237 in the two contests and also led the Wolves defensively with 39 digs, 29 against the Vikings.

HONORABLE MENTION: Alicia Cazemier, Montana State Billings (MB, 6-0, Sr., Vauxhall, Alberta)  led the Yellowjackets with 38 kills and nine blocks as MSUB earned a road split, including a win at Seattle Pacific, snapping the Falcons’ 28-match conference win streak. Cazemier also had a team-best .291 attack percentage. . .Cammy Dranginis, Northwest Nazarene (MB, 6-0, So., Nampa, ID - Skyview) had 33 kills and 11 digs as the Crusaders earned a home sweep defeating the Yellowjackets 3-1 and Seattle 3-2.  Dranginis hit .305 in the two wins, 99 points better than the team average of .206. . .Korlyn Bolster, Alaska Fairbanks (MH, 6-1, Jr., Guerneville, CA – El Molino) had nine kills in 15 swings and also had four blocks, including two solos in the Nanooks’ 3-0 sweep of Alaska Anchorage.

AROUND THE GNAC:   Devon Crotteau had 22 digs as Montana State Billings held Seattle Pacific to a .059 hitting percentage in Saturday’s 3-1 win.  It was the  Falcons first sub .100 percentage since it hit .063 against BYU-Hawaii on Aug. 24, 2006 and its lowest percentage since hitting .022 against Ferris State on Aug. 27, 2005. . Western Oregon earned its two victories despite being outblocked 23-6.  In addition to Mainer, the Wolves got 33 kills from Haley Kostrba, 27 from Stacey Bennett and 22 from Sharon Peterson. . .Rachel Biornstad had 23 kills and 17 blocks, including a career-high 10 in a 3-2 win over Seattle University as Seattle Pacific split its opening two conference matches. Torii Mount averaged 7.22 digs (65 total) in the two matches, including a GNAC season-best 45 in Thursday’s win over SU. . .Seattle’s Libby Graff had 35 kills and Emily Powell had 30 kills and 17 blocks, including a school-record 10 in Saturday’s 3-2 road loss at Nampa. . .WWU’s Courtney Schneider had 40 digs against Western Oregon, increasing her GNAC-record string of consecutive matches with 10 or more to 59.  She now ranks 15^th  in NCAA Division II history with 2,085 career digs.  She has had 40 or more digs six times, including twice this season, a feat that has been accomplished just 12 times in GNAC history. . .Erica Gage hit for a .692 percentage (10-1-13) in Alaska Fairbanks’ win over UAA. . .Central Washington’s Rachael Schurman had 49 kills, including a GNAC season-best 25 against Hawaii Hilo, and 18 blocks as the Wildcats won one of three matches.  Erin Norris chipped in with 36 kills and 14 blocks.  On the week Crotteau had 33 kills and 38 digs. . .Shealun Campisi had 22 kills and 30 digs for Saint Martin’s in three matches.  The Saints have now lost 23 straight. . .Rhea Cardwell led Alaska Anchorage with nine kills and three blocks in its loss to UAF.

AROUND THE REGION:  With two losses with Hawaii Hilo last week, GNAC teams are now 38-40 in non-conference matches.  The only two remaining non-conference contests remaining are in Billings as the Yellowjackets play at Rocky Mountain Oct. 2 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. 

Click HERE for the complete GNAC weekly release
 

Kristin Anderson leads the team in kills per game at 2.00, although she totaled just five kills in last weekend's two losses.  Nicole Ostlund and Shealun Campisi each average just below 2 kpg.    Campisi also leads the team in digs at 2.78 per game.  Allora Dehan is averaging a team-best 0.82 blocks per game.

All-time Series:  MSUB leads series 2-0
Last Meeting: MSUB def SMU 3-1 on Oct. 16, 1999 in Lacey, Wash.
 

The Wolves Kayla Mainer was named GNAC player of the week after posting 36 kills and 39 digs in the two conference wins.  She drilled 20 kills in the upset of Western Washington.  For the season Mainer leads the team and ranks sixth in the GNAC at 3.84 kills per game.  Haley Kostrba, Sharon Peterson, and Stacey Bennett each average at least 2.00 kpg.  Mainer and Claire Carpenter each rank in the top 10 in the conference for digs per game, and Amy Herron is eighth in the league for service aces.

All-time Series:  WOU leads series 4-0
Last Meeting:  WOU def. MSUB 3-1  on Oct. 7, 1999 at Monmouth, Ore.
 

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 — Aug. 31, 2007 (Devon Crotteau, 8 vs. Colo. Mines)

A player had 10 or more blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Alicia Cazemier, 10 vs. Colo. St.-Pueblo)

A player had 5-9 blocks in a match — Sept. 8, 2007 (Alicia Cazemier, 7 vs. Seattle Pacific)

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 15 or more blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (15.0 vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

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 (1,180); 18. Jessica Lechner (408)

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); 5. Nicole Kruse (955)

Service Aces
Season – 1. Nicole Kruse (62)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (178); 4. Nicole Kruse (110); 6. Alicia Cazemier (97)

Total Blocks
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (169)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (446); 16. Jessica Lechner (128)

Solo Blocks
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (67)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (148)

Block Assists
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (119)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (298); 15. Jessica Lechner (101)

Attack Percentage
Season – 1. Andrea Donahue (.373)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (.308); 5. Jessica Lechner (.239)

Kills per Game
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (4.61)
Career – 1. Ali Watson (4.10); 6. Alicia Cazemier (3.47) 

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 (3.84)

Games Played
Career – 1. Gina Langer (462); 8. Alicia Cazemier (340); 15. Nicole Kruse (249); 16. Jessica Lechner (246)

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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