Yellowjackets Almost Sting Western Washington

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – No. 6 Western Washington and Montana State University Billings went toe-to-toe on the volleyball court, Saturday night.  The Vikings kept their undefeated season intact with a hard fought 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) win over the Yellowjackets.  The Jackets begin a five-game home stretch, Tuesday, Sept. 23 against Rocky Mountain College.  The match is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.

“We are just as close to being where Western Washington is,” said head coach Dana Cordova.  “They are a very good team but we came out fired up and played very well.  We out dug them and were even on hitting.  They block us well early in the match but I thought we did a great job of adjusting.  We are still beating ourselves with key mistakes, however, we continue to play hard.  If you do that, those issues will work themselves out.”

Western Washington controlled the tempo in the early stages of game one jumping to an 18-11 lead.  Montana State Billings then came charging back with a 6-1 run to close the gap to 19-17.  The Vikings reeled off three straight points to appear to be on the verge of winning.  Those pesky Yellowjackets though kept attacking.  Hillary Morrison made two straight nice sets that MSUB converted to make it 24-23.  WWU came back with a kill to take the game.

The Vikings could never really pull away from the Jackets in the final two games until near the end of both.  In the second game, MSUB fought off game point three times before finally falling.  In the third game, they forced WWU into two errors to stave off match point before Tiana Roma finally connected to end the battle.

For Montana State Billings (0-3 GNAC, 2-13), Devon Crotteau had 15 kills and 12 digs while Jennifer Boe had 13 kills.  Hillary Morrison had a career-high 39 assists, averaging 13 per game.  Jill Trabing ended up with 12 digs.