Yellowjacket of the Week 2006-2007

• 2003-2004
• 2004-2005
• 2005-2006

Doug Longfellow, Baseball, May 14, 2007

Jonathan Wiley, Men's Basketball, May 7, 2007
Wiley, a senior from Westlake Village, CA, received two major honors last week.  He was awarded one of 56 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships to attend graduate school.  At Saturday's commencement ceremony, Wiley was named one of the university's Outstanding Seniors.  Nominated for the Outstanding Senior award by Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Scott Harris, Wiley became the third Yellowjacket student-athlete in the last three years to win the honor.  Women's basketball players Jenny Langford and Robyn Milne won the award the last two years.

Seth Moir, Baseball, Apr. 30, 2007
Moir, a junior first baseman from Cody, Wyo., created havoc for Incarnate Word over the weekend slapping a home run and a double for a career-high four RBIs in a 7-2 win over the Cardinals in the second game of the four-game series.  In Saturday's first game, Moir drove in a timely double in the sixth inning to lift the Jackets to a 9-8 win over the Cards.  For the week, Moir batted .462 going 6-for-13.  He scored four runs, two doubles, one home run, and six RBIs in the four-game series.  Moir's .846 slugging percentage was a team-best, as was his 38 pickoff's at first base.

Amy Nordeen, Women's Golf, Apr. 23, 2007
Nordeen placed tenth at the Heartland Conference Golf Championships in Dallas.  The freshman from Hamilton, Mont., was the only MSU Billings player, men or women, to record a top 10 finish at the tournament.  Nordeen shot rounds of 87 and 89 at the par-72, 5,959-yard Hackberry Creek Country Club.

Jenna McCartney, Softball, Apr. 16, 2007
McCartney had the best hitting weekend of her career to lead MSU Billings to a four-game sweep of Incarnate Word.  She was 7-for-11 at the plate for a .636 average.  She had two doubles and her first home run of the season for a 1.091 slugging percentage, and also drew two walks for a .692 on base percentage.  For the weekend she drove in five runs and scored three times.  On Saturday, the senior punctuated Senior Day by going a perfect 5-for-5 with a home run.  For the four game series, McCartney was also perfect in 29 chances at first base.

Matt Schoonover, Baseball, Apr. 9, 2007
Schoonover, a redshirt freshman from Great Falls, leads the Yellowjacket baseball team in batting with a .356 average.  In 26 games, Schoonover is 26-for-73 at the plate with 15 runs and 12 RBIs.  Schoonover's .356 average leads a group of four Yellowjackets who are hitting over .300 after the first 30 games of the season.  Last year, only two regular players hit over .300 for the season.

Lindsey Trenary, Softball, Apr. 2, 2007
Trenary went 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA in two starts last week as Montana State-Billings went 3-0 in non-conference games.  On Thursday, the native of Montana’s capital city won the first-ever meeting between Montana college softball programs when she defeated University of Great Falls 8-5.  MSU Billings became the first four-year college softball program in the state in 2001.  UGF added the sport in 2007.  On Saturday, Trenary tossed a complete game three-hitter to defeat Texas-Permian Basin 9-1 in five innings.  She struck out a career-high seven batters without allowing a walk.   In 12 innings of work last week, Trenary allowed 11 hits and four earned runs while striking out 12 and walking four.

Jake Samuelson, Baseball, Mar. 26, 2007
Samuelson blasted a seventh-inning grand slam to lift the Yellowjackets to an 11-7 win at Lincoln University on Saturday.  After dropping the opening game of the series, Samuelson's two-out shot provided the winning margin in the second game and propelled MSUB to three wins in the weekend series.  The homer was Samuelson's first of his career.  For the weekend, Samuelson batted .294 with a double, a home run, five RBIs, and three runs.  He was also behind the plate for all four games of the series and didn't commit an error or allow a passed ball.

Jessica Frank, Softball, Mar. 19, 2007
In a series sweep over Heartland Conference opponent Oklahoma Panhandle, Frank was the driving force behind the Yellowjackets’ offense.  For the week, Frank batted .615 going 8-for-13 where she scored three runs, five RBIs, and four doubles.  She went 4-for-4 matching the single-game school record in a 3-2 win over the Aggies.  Frank posted a slugging percentage of .440 and an on base percentage of .420.  The Lady Jackets have won the last seven straight games and with the four wins against Oklahoma Panhandle, the Jackets moved to a .517 winning percentage on the season.

Mike Cease, Baseball, Mar. 12, 2007
Cease made four appearances in late inning relief last week, helping Montana State-Billings lock down a pair of series sweeps on the road.  In his four appearances, three as the closer, Cease was 1-0 with three saves and a 0.00 ERA.  He allowed four hits and struck out five in six innings of work.  In the three games Cease entered in the final inning, the bases were loaded in two of them.  In the other game, Cease entered the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning with runners on second and third against UTPB.  The three saves for the week put him atop the Heartland Conference for saves this season with four.  Cease has already recorded more saves this season than the entire team had in last year’s inaugural season.

Lorel Palmer, Softball, Mar. 5, 2007
Palmer batted .414 in eight games to lead Montana State-Billings to a 5-3 record at the Central Washington Invitational.  She was 12-for-29 with four runs, four RBIs, and three doubles.  She posted a slugging percentage of .517 and an on base percentage of .433.  The Yellowjackets advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, where they fell 2-1 to 22^nd-ranked Seattle University.  On Saturday Palmer tied the school record for hits in a game when she went 4-for-5 in an 11-5 win against Saint Martin’s.  On Sunday Palmer again matched the single-game school record, going 4-for-4 against Western Oregon.  Palmer was named the Heartland Conference hitter of the week.

Michelle Lieber, Women's Basketball, Feb. 26, 2007
After missing six games because of injury, Michelle Lieber returned to action Saturday night to carry Montana State-Billings to a 70-67 overtime road win at St. Edward’s University.  Lieber scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds in 41 minutes.  The national leader for field goal percentage, Lieber hit 10-of-12 from the field and 12-of-15 from the free throw line.  She was the only Yellowjacket to score double figures, but it was enough to give MSUB the win and the 2006-2007 Heartland Conference regular season title.  For her performance, Lieber was named the Heartland Conference player of the week for the fourth time this season.

Ben Lewerke, Baseball, Feb. 19, 2007
Lewerke, a senior lefty from Mason City, IA, scattered five hits over six innings to give the MSUB baseball team its first win of the year.  Lewerke walked three and struck out three in holding defending Heartland Conference champion University of the Incarnate Word to just one run.  The Jackets' first win of 2007 came almost a month before the first win of their inaugural season of 2006. 

Alira Carpenter, Women's Basketball, Feb. 12, 2007
Carpenter, a sophomore from Lewistown, MT broke the single season record for 3-pointers made in a 59-57 Heartland Conference win over St. Mary's University on Thursday.  She was a perfect 5-of-5 from behind the arc giving her 76 threes for the season.  The previous record set by Jenni Winters in 1998-1999 stood at 75 for nearly eight seasons.  In the win over the Rattlers, Carpenter netted 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and was 2-of-2 from the line.  She also had six rebounds in the game.

Troy Ruff, Men's Basketball, Feb. 5, 2007
Ruff, a freshman guard from Custer, Mont., scored a career-high 16 points to help lead the Yellowjackets to a 68-67 road win at Lincoln University on Saturday.  Ruff was 6-of-10 from the field, 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and 2-of-3 from the free throw line.  He also had five rebounds, an assist, and a steal.  Ruff helped fill the void left with injuries to two of the Jackets' starting guards.  For the week he was 8-of-14 from the field (57%).

Jen Smith, Women's Basketball, Jan. 29, 2007
Smith, a sophomore forward from Belgrade, MT, averaged 10 points a game in three Lady Yellowjacket wins last week.  Two of the wins were in conference games, keeping MSU Billings in first place in the Heartland Conference standings.  Smith's biggest performance of the week came on Sunday when she scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 66-65 win over Incarnate Word.  With senior captain Michelle Lieber sidelined by injury, Smith filled the void in the paint for the Jackets, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field and 5-of-7 from the line.

Tom D'Amore, Men's Basketball, Jan. 22, 2007
D'Amore scored a career-high 29 points and eight-3-pointers to lead the Yellowjackets to a 95-84 Heartland Conference win Saturday over visiting Lincoln University.  The game was the first in a four-game home stand for the Jackets.  In the win over the Blue Tigers, D'Amore was 10-of-21 from the field and 8-of-16 from behind the arc for an appreciable 50 percent.  He averaged more than one point per minute he was on the court.  He also recorded a career-high six steals in the game.  The Jackets were 1-2 for the week losing a 93-87 contest against Texas-Permian Basin on Monday and fell 78-69 to Dallas Baptist Wednesday to wrap up a four-game road trip.  D'Amore averaged 11.33 points per game and three 3-pointers per game for the week.

Shantell Marquis, Women's Basketball, Jan. 15, 2007
Marquis led the Lady Jackets to a split with Oklahoma Panhandle State University on the road.  In Friday's 85-82 Heartland Conference loss, Marquis matched her career-high 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field.  She grabbed six rebounds, handed out five assists, blocked two shots and had two steals in the game.  On Saturday the Lady Jackets bounced back picking up the 73-66 win.  Marquis recorded her first double-double of her career netting 11 points and 11 rebounds.  She was 4-of-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc.  She also had one blocked shot in the game.  For the week, Marquis averaged 12 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.  She also handed out seven assists, blocked three shots and recorded three steals.

Jennifer Skrifvars, Women's Basketball, Jan. 8, 2007
Skrifvars came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points in just 15 minutes assisting the Lady Jackets to the 78-61 win over visiting St. Edward's University.  Skrifvars was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, and shot a career-best 2-of-2 from 3-point range.  She was 5-of-9 from the free throw line.  The Lady Jackets swept the Hilltoppers two nights in a row, and posted a 82-64 win earlier in the week against Texas A&M - International.  For the week Skrifvars averaged five ppg, and 15 minutes per game.  On the season, Skrifvars is averaging 2.1 ppg and 1.8 rebounds.

Jonathan Wiley, Men's Basketball, Jan. 1, 2007
Wiley scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Montana State-Billings to its first victory of the season.  Wiley played all but the final 10 seconds of the game Saturday, leading the Jackets to a 65-54 win against Oklahoma Panhandle State.  He was 5-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.  The win snapped a seven-game losing streak to open the season and also gave MSU Billings a 1-0 record in the Heartland Conference.  For the season Wiley is averaging 15.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, and 38.2 minutes per game.

Kayla McPherson, Women's Basketball, Dec. 25, 2006
McPherson was instrumental in helping Montana State-Billings to a pair of big South Central Region wins at the Hoop-N-Surf Classic in Honolulu.  On Tuesday she came off the bench to score 13 points in 17 minutes in an 86-61 win over Abilene Christian.  She was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range.  ACU entered the game with a 4-0 mark against other Heartland Conference teams this season (St. Edward’s, St. Mary’s, and Incarnate Word twice).  On Wednesday, McPherson again came off the bench to spark the Yellowjackets to a 78-69 upset of previously unbeaten Missouri Southern State.  She scored a career-high 21 points in just 16 minutes of action.  She was 6-of-9 from the field, 3-of-5 from behind the arc, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line.  For the week McPherson shot 61 percent from the floor, 55 percent from 3-point range, and 100 percent from the line.  She averaged just over a point for every minute she was on the floor, scoring 34 points in 33 minutes of playing time.  McPherson was named the Heartland Conference Player of the Week for her efforts.

Ammar Harknell, Men's Basketball, Dec. 18, 2006
Harknell, a junior transfer from Maine, came off the bench to record a double-double in a 103-85 loss to West Liberty State, the top scoring team in NCAA Division II.  In just 23 minutes, Harknell scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, both career highs.  Entering the game he had just 14 points and nine rebounds in the season’s first four games.  He was 5-of-11 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.  The three 3-pointers were also a career high.

Alira Carpenter, Women's Basketball, Dec. 11, 2006
Carpenter averaged 21.0 ppg in leading Montana State-Billings to its first consecutive wins of the year.  On Wednesday she scored a career-high 28 points in an 80-67 win over Montana State-Northern.  She was 10-of-18 from the field, 3-of-3 from the line, and 5-of-9 from three point range.  The five made three pointers were a career high.  On Saturday, Carpenter scored 14 points in an 84-68 road win at St. Martin's University.  She was 6-of-14 from the field and made two 3-pointers.  For the week Carpenter shot 50 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from behind the arc, and also averaged three assists and two steals a game.

Tom D'Amore, Men's Basketball, Dec. 4, 2006
D'Amore, a sophomore from Tucson, AZ, averaged 15.5 points in his first weekend as a Yellowjacket.  The transfer who has been out of basketball for the last five years scored scored 16 points in his debut against Central Washington on Friday.  He netted 15 points against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday with all 15 coming from 3-point range.  He was 5-of-7 from behind the arc against the Crusaders and 7-of-19 for the weekend.

Michelle Lieber, Women's Basketball, Nov. 20, 2006
Lieber helped lead the Lady Jackets to a 1-1 record at the Chinook Wireless/Holiday Inn Yellowjacket Classic.  The Jackets defeated Western Oregon in their season opener on Friday before losing to No. 2-ranked North Dakota on Saturday.  Lieber posted a double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds in the win over WOU.  In Saturday's loss she had a dozen points and five rebounds.  Lieber was 12-of-17 from the field for the weekend and was named to the all-tournament team.

Alexis Sandru, Jessica Bratton, Ali Watson, and Natalie Bills, Nov. 13, 2006
The four Yellowjacket seniors finished their careers with the best winning percentage of any MSUB volleyball senior class.  Sandru, Bratton and Bills spent four seasons at MSU Billings while Watson was a two-year standout.  All four established their places in the school record books, and all four earned various individual honors.  But their most significant accomplishments were three-straight winning seasons, a 66-44 record over the last four years, the program's first-ever conference championship, and the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Volleyball Team, Nov. 6, 2006
The Lady Yellowjacket volleyball team earns the collective Yellowjacket of the Week award for accomplishing something that no other volleyball team in school history has.  The Jackets swept their two matches in the Heartland Conference Tournament to claim the conference title.  In doing so they earned their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.  Ali Watson, Alicia Cazemier and Natalie Bills were named to the Heartland All-Tournament team with Cazemier taking MVP honors.

Women's Cross-Country Team, Oct. 30, 2006
The Lady Yellowjacket cross-country team won their second race in as many weeks on Saturday and also entered the regional rankings.  Two weeks ago the Jackets won the Heartland Conference Championship.  Following that win they moved to No. 10 in the NCAA South Central Regional rankings.  This past Saturday the Lady Jackets edged Dickinson State at their Yellowjacket Invitational.

Jessica Bratton, Volleyball, Oct. 23, 2006
Bratton, a senior outside hitter from Casper, Wyoming made school history on Tuesday with her 17 kills in a four-game win over RMC. In that match Bratton eclipsed 1,288 career kills giving her the No. 1 spot in Yellowjacket history.  Bratton led the Lady Jackets to a pair of Heartland Conference wins against Oklahoma Panhandle keeping the Jackets a perfect 8-0 in HLC play.  Bratton posted 17 kills on Tuesday and added another 20 over the weekend against Oklahoma Panhandle   recording a blistering .400 attack percentage in Saturday's match.  For the week she had seven blocks.  The Yellowjackets are en route to a first ever Heartland Conference Championship when they host the top four teams Nov. 3 and 4.

Emily Maag, Women's Golf, Oct. 16, 2006
Maag, a junior from Colstrip, MT, finished at 21-over at the Regis University Invitational to lead the Montana State-Billings women to a second place team finish.  She shot rounds of 81 and 84 to finish with a 165, finishing fourth in the individual standings.  The second place team finish is one of the best showings the Lady Jacket golf team has posted at a tournament in its brief history. 

Natalie Bills, Volleyball, Oct. 9, 2006
Natalie Bills guided the Montana State-Billings attack to a pair of efficient three-game sweeps of University of the Incarnate Word, keeping the Yellowjackets perfect in Heartland Conference play at 4-0.  Bills handed out 44 assist on Friday as the Yellowjackets hit a blistering .333 as a team.  On Saturday she dished out 40 assists to lead the Yellowjacket attack to a .304 attack percentage.  It was the first two-match set this season that the Yellowjackets had an attack percentage over .300 for the weekend.  Bills currently leads the Heartland Conference in assists per game and eclipsed 3,300 career assists at MSUB, second all-time in school history.

Sam Charles, Men's Soccer, Oct. 2, 2006
Charles, a freshman from Chiswell, England, had three goals and an assist in a pair of Yellowjacket wins last week.  On Tuesday he scored a goal in a 5-1 win over College of the Southwest on the road.  On Saturday Charles had a pair of goals and an assist in a 4-0 home win over Colorado Christian.  For the week six of his 12 shots were on goal.  On the season Charles has scored six of the Jackets' 12 goals.

Crystal Roseberry, Cross-Country, Sept. 25, 2006
Roseberry, a freshman from Chinook, MT, placed second overall at the Dickinson State Invitational to lead the Lady Yellowjacket cross-country team to the team title.  Roseberry covered the 5K course in 20:58.  After missing the first race of the season, Roseberry, whose brother Matt runs for the Yellowjacket men, has been the top finisher for the Lady Jackets.

Ali Watson, Volleyball, Sept. 18, 2006
Watson, a senior from Calgary, Alberta, led the Yellowjacket volleyball team to a pair of sweeps at University of Texas-Permian Basin.  The victories extended the Yellowjackets’ winning streak to six matches, including four-straight 3-0 sweeps.  Watson had double-digit kills in both matches, including 17 in Tuesday’s win.  Her 27 kills for the week moved her over 600 for her Yellowjacket career, 12^th in school history.  Watson leads the Heartland Conference in kills per game.

2006 Women's Soccer Team, Sept. 11, 2006
The women's soccer team added two more shutouts to their record on the road winning 1-0 in double overtime against Heartland Conference opponent St. Mary's on September 9, and 3-0 against Texas A&M - International September 10.  As a team, the 2006 squad holds the school record for consecutive shutout minutes with 409:00 and have a goals against average of just 0.14.  On the season, the Lady Jackets have allowed just one goal while scoring 22 against their opponents.  The team has also out-shot their opponents 106-45.  Goalkeeper Megan Plank from Phoenix, AZ is first in school history with 19 career shutouts with teammate Ally Stroup from Ojai, CA holding the record with 33 career goals, a record that was broken in the win against TAMUI.

Jessica Bratton, Volleyball, Sept. 4, 2006
Bratton, a senior outside hitter from Casper, WY, led Montana State-Billings to a 3-1 record at the Hampton Inn Classic at Fort Lewis College.  She averaged 3.81 kills on a .169 attack percentage for the week.  The Yellowjackets’ only loss was a 3-2 battle with 18^th-ranked Seattle Pacific.  In the final match of the tournament MSU Billings spoiled Fort Lewis’ perfect record, winning 3-2 to hand the Skyhawks their first loss of the year.  Bratton had a season-high 29 kills on a .224 attack percentage against Fort Lewis.  Last week Bratton became the third player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career kills.  This week her 61 kills moved her up to No. 2 in school history with 1,087 career kills.

Ally Stroup, Women's Soccer, Aug. 28, 2006
Stroup, a senior forward from Ojai, CA, scored three goals in three games to lead Montana State-Billings to an unbeaten opening weekend.  All three wins were against regional opponents on the road.  Stroup scored the game winning goal in a 1-0 shutout of Colorado School of Mines on Thursday.  The goal gave her 72 career points, a new school record.  In Saturday's 1-0 overtime win she provided the assist on the game winning goal.  On Sunday Stroup found the net twice in a 3-1 win at Eastern New Mexico.  Along with taking over the career school record for points, Stroup moved closer to two other school records.  She is now within four of the career goals scored record and within two of the career game winning goals record.  Stroup’s assist on Sunday extended her own school record to 23.

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