Sat., Sept. 29 - vs. Central Washington, 7 p.m., Alterowitz Gym (Live Video : Live Stats)

Click HERE to listen to this week's Yellowjacket Volleyball Show featuring coach Sara Schaub and junior Jessica Lechner
 

The Yellowjackets continued their roll last week with road wins at Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage.  The pair of 3-1 wins stretched the Jackets' winning streak to five, and they have now won nine of their last 10 matches dating back to the end of August.

After stumbling in game one, the Jackets surged back to win Thursday’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference match against the University of Alaska Fairbanks 20-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-26.  Four Yellowjackets had double digit kills led by Devon Crotteau’s 18 kills.  Alicia Cazemier hit a fiery .414.  Cazemier had 16 kills off 29 attempts with only four hitting errors.  Freshman Jennifer Boe posted a double-double tying her career-high of 15 kills and 15 digs.  Jessica Lechner also had a big night for the Jackets putting away 10 kills off 20 attempts without an error to lead the Lady Jackets with a .500 attack percentage.  The last time an MSUB player had a .500 hitting percentage while posting 10 or more kills was Oct. 20, 2006 when Cazemier did it against Oklahoma Panhandle State.

Click HERE for Coach Schaub's comments following the win against Fairbanks.

The Jackets fought their way to a 3-1 win over the University of Alaska Anchorage Saturday, 31-29, 30-17, 27-30, 30-25.  The win kept the Jackets in a tie atop the standings in the GNAC with a 5-1 conference record.  Western Oregon is also 5-1, losing only to MSUB.

The Jackets’ three big hitters Jennifer Boe, Devon Crotteau, and Alicia Cazemier combined for 53 of the Yellowjackets' 70 kills in the match.  MSU Billings last recorded at least 70 kills in a match on Oct. 17, 2006 when they had 72 in a win over Rocky Mountain.

The Lady Jackets had a .211 hitting percentage for the match along with 12 service aces.  MSUB was led by Crotteau’s career-high 23 kills and 19 digs.  Stefania Aladjova handed out a career-high 57 assists and had a match-high four aces.  Boe posted another double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs while Cazemier had 20 kills on a team-leading .359 attack percentage.

Click HERE for Jill Trabing's blog about last week.

Record Watch:  Senior Alicia Cazemier seems to have found her rhythm.  The middle blocker from Vauxhall, Alberta, Canada, started the season posting numbers below her career averages.  That was while she was getting used to some new roles on the court (she has already reached 100 digs for the first time in her career).  Now she's blistering opponents.  In the first six GNAC matches of the year, she hasn't hit below .286 or had fewer than 13 kills in any match.  With 36 kills last week, Cazemier closed in on the No. 2 spot in the school career record book.  Her 1,250 career kills are just 38 behind Olivia Munro and 126 behind Jessica Bratton for the top spot in school history....With 28 digs last weekend, senior libero Nicole Kruse became just the fifth player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career digs.  At 1,008, she's in range of Jody Newberry at No. 4 (1,081) and Brandee Sayles at No. 3 (1,219).  Gina Langer holds the all-time MSUB mark with 1,530 digs.

From the GNAC:
LAST WEEK: Thursday – Seattle 3 at Alaska Anchorage 1 (22-30, 30-21, 30-27, 30-23); MSU Billings 3 at Alaska Fairbanks 1 (20-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-26); Seattle Pacific 0 at Western Oregon 3 (30-23, 30-23, 30-27); Northwest Nazarene 3 at Saint Martin's 0 (30-21, 30-20, 30-19). Saturday – MSU Billings 3 at Alaska Anchorage 1 (31-29, 30-17, 27-30, 30-25); Seattle 3 at Alaska Fairbanks 2 (26-30, 30-19, 30-25, 25-30, 15-5); Northwest Nazarene 0 at Western Oregon 3 (30-22, 30-15, 30-16); Seattle Pacific 3 at Saint Martin's 0 (30-20, 30-23, 30-25); Western Washington 3 at Central Washington 1 (30-18, 28-30, 30-21, 30-28).  

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

CSTV/AVCA National Division II (Sept. 17) - 30. Western Washington 34. Northwest Nazarene.

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. 16): Individuals (Top 50): Kills - 24. Alicia Cazemier, MSUB, 4.43; 37. Alyssa Given, SPU, 4.23; 38. Rachael Schurman, CWU, 4.22; 39. Devon Crotteau, MSUB, 4.22. Hitting Percentage - 27. Rachael Schurman, CWU, .379; 50. Angie Alvord, WWU, .349. Assists - 45. Stefania Aladjova, MSUB, 11.48. Aces - 5. Alyssa Given, SPU, 0.91. Digs - 5. Courtney Schneider, WWU, 6.74. Blocks - 10. Angie Alvord, WWU, 1.48; 27. Emily Powell, SU, 1.33. Team (Top 50): Hitting PCT. - 21. Western Washington .257. Aces - 48. Seattle Pacific 2.48. Digs - 10. Seattle 20.63; 20. Western Oregon 19.87; 44. Northwest Nazarene 18.78. Blocks - 47. Western Washington 2.44.

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Nikole Thompson, Seattle University (OH, 5-10, Sr., Marysville, WA – Marysville-Pilchuck) and Courtney Schneider, Western Washington (L, 5-9, Sr., Snohomish, WA). . .Thompson, who became the 17th member of the GNAC 1000 Kill Club the previous week, had 38 kills, 29 digs and eight blocks to lead the Redhawks to a road sweep of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.   Thompson, who is the active GNAC leader in kills, now ranks 15th all-time with 1,046. . .Schneider broke her own GNAC single-match record for digs with 50 in the Vikings’ 3-1 win over Central Washington, helping hold CWU to a .061 percentage.  The Schneider-led WWU defense limited CWU’s Rachael Schurman, who came into the match leading the GNAC with a .379 percentage,  to 10 kills and a .104 percentage in 48 attempts.  Schneider, who has had 62 consecutive double-digit dig matches, now ranks 11th in NCAA history with 2,177 digs.

HONORABLE MENTION: Stefanie Aladjova, Montana State Billings (S, 5-8, Jr., Sofia, Bulgaria – Navarro College) averaged 13.62 assists per game (109 in eight games) as the Yellowjackets hit .227 in extending their win streak to five matches.  . .Stacey Bennett, Western Oregon (OH-MB, 6-3, Jr., Portland, OR – Westview) hit .441 (29-3-59) in the Wolves’ sweeps of Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene.  Bennett also had four blocks.

AROUND THE GNAC:  Seattle University’s Emily Powell had 16 blocks, including a school-record 12 in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Alaska Fairbanks as the Redhawks earned their first fifth-game win after five previous losses.  Powell’s 12 blocks equaled the 2007 GNAC season-best mark and also equaled the second best single-match total in conference history. . .Devon Crotteau had 41 kills and Alicia Cazemier had 36 kills, nine blocks and a .382 attack percentage in Montana State Billings’ sweep in Alaska. . .Western Oregon outhit Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene .254 to .072 as Claire Carpenter led the defense with 43 digs. . .Jaime Anderson had 20 kills and Angie Alvord was credited with 10 blocks in Western Washington’s win at Central, snapping CWU’s three-match win streak.  Erin Norris led CWU with 16 kills and seven blocks. . Alyssa Given had 33 kills, 10 aces and  27 digs in six games as Seattle Pacific split a pair of 3-0 road decisions. . .Given leads the GNAC with 50 aces (1.00 per game) and is on pace to break the GNAC single-season records for most aces (93) and most aces per game (0.89) set by WWU’s Shannon Rowland in 2001. . .Cammy Dranginis had team-bests of 22 kills and nine blocks as Northwest Nazarene split two road matches. . .Alaska Fairbanks’ Megan Thigpen had 33 kills and 29 digs in two home losses.  Rhea Cardwell had team-highs of 35 kills and 46 digs for Alaska Anchorage in its 3-1 losses to Seattle and MSU Billings. . .Shealun Campisi led Saint Martin’s with 23 kills in losses to Northwest Nazarene and Seattle Pacific.   The Saints have now lost 27 straight over two seasons.

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 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.
 

Western is 8-4 overall and 4-1 in the GNAC, just a half game behind MSU Billings and Western Oregon.  Two of their non-conference losses have been to top 5 ranked teams in the nation.  Thursday's match at MSUB is also important for the Vikings, who are trying to keep pace with the surprising one-loss Yellowjackets and Wolves.  The Vikings still have two matches remaining against Northwest Nazarene, two against Seattle Pacific, and one against Western Oregon.

Jaime Anderson leads the Vikings and ranks fourth in the GNAC for kills at 4.09 per game.  The versatile 6-foot-0 outside hitter has a season hitting percentage of .234 and also averages 2.96 digs per game.  Senior libero Courtney Schneider leads the GNAC with a ridiculous 7.24 digs per game and was last week's GNAC co-player of the week.  Junior middle blocker Angie Alvord averages 1.57 blocks per game, best in the GNAC.

All-time Series:  WWU leads series 3-0
Last Meeting: WWU def. MSUB 3-0 on Oct. 6, 2000 in Bellingham
 

Central Washington University

Junior middle blocker Rachael Schurman leads the Wildcats and ranks fourth in the GNAC for kills at 4.09 per game.  She's hitting at a torrid .352 clip, the best in the GNAC.  Erin Norris and Kady Try each add over 2.7 kpg.  Norris ranks fourth in the conference for service aces (0.54 per game). 

All-time Series:  CWU leads series 2-0
Last Meeting: CWU def. MSUB 3-1 on Oct. 14, 1999 in Ellensburg
 

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. 22, 2007 (Jessica Lechner, 5 vs. Alaska Anchorage)

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 — 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 (1,250); 16. Jessica Lechner (434)

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 (1008)

Service Aces
Season – 1. Nicole Kruse (62)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (178); 4. Nicole Kruse (115); 6. Alicia Cazemier (103)

Total Blocks
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (169)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (466); 16. Jessica Lechner (142)

Solo Blocks
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (67)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (151); 19. Jessica Lechner (29)

Block Assists
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (119)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (315); 12. Jessica Lechner (113)

Attack Percentage
Season – 1. Andrea Donahue (.373)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (.312); 5. Jessica Lechner (.234)

Kills per Game
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (4.61)
Career – 1. Ali Watson (4.10); 6. Alicia Cazemier (3.51) 

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 (3.80)

Games Played
Career – 1. Gina Langer (462); 5. Alicia Cazemier (356); 13. Nicole Kruse (265); 14. Jessica Lechner (262)

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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