MSUB VOLLEYBALL BEGINS STEVE SMITH ERA WITH SOME FUN IN THE SUN

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FUN IN THE SUN
The 2009 regular season starts off in Oahu, Hawaii, at the AQUA Hotels Invitational, Aug. 27-29. The Yellowjackets will square off against four PacWest schools, Hawaii Pacific, BYU-Hawaii, Hawaii Hilo and Chaminade, during the event.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2009
Former Fort Hays State coach Steve Smith (44-82, 4 years) takes over at Montana State Billings and has six letter winners available off last year’s team, which looks to improve on last season and build a new winning tradition.

Among the six is outside hitter Devon Crotteau (6-0, Sr., Casper, WY – Northern Colorado), who was one of the top kill producers in the GNAC, averaging 3.89 to rank second in the conference.

Crotteau also ranked 10th in kill percentage (.246), netted 3.19 digs per contest and contributed 29 aces and 36 blocks.

Also back are outside hitter Jennifer Boe (5-8, Jr., Casper, WY – Kelly Walsh), setter Hillary Morrison (5-10, Sr., Casper, WY – Chadron State) and libero Jill Trabing (5-8, Sr., Buffalo, WY).

Boe averaged 2.51 kills and 2.75 digs. Morrison was credited with 7.36 assists and Trabing had 3.52 digs.

Smith’s first MSUB team will include only two other letter winners – middle blocker Melissa Porter (6-3, So., Redmond, UT – North Sevier) and defensive specialist Whitney Mickelsen (5-4, So., Aurora, UT – North Sevier) – along with five freshmen.

YELLOWJACKETS TABBED EIGHTH
The Montana State Billings volleyball team was selected eighth in the annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason poll. The Yellowjackets received 15 points behind conference favorite Western Washington with 60 points.

Returning for MSUB is one of the league’s top kill producers in Devon Crotteau. Last season she ranked second in kills per game, averaging 3.89. Joining Crotteau as returning letter winners will be Jennifer Boe, Hillary Morrison, Jill Trabing, Melissa Porter, and Whitney Mickelson.

ABOUT HAWAII PACIFIC
The Sea Warriors come into the 2009 season hoping their end of the year success in 2008, winning 10 of the last 13 games, will carry over into the beginning of the new season. That winning stretch helped propel Hawaii Pacific into a third place finish in the Pacific West Conference. The Sea Warriors are predicted to finish fourth in this year’s Pacific West standings according to the preseason coaches poll. Hawaii Pacific returns 10 players from last year’s team including three all-conference selections, Kelly Balanay, Tricia Yoshimura and Julia Gruszecka. Balanay was selected to the PacWest preseason all-conference team, recording 257 kills, 98 blocks and 316 points last season. She also is a two-time All-PacWest First-Team selection, earning the honor in 2007 and 2008.

MSUB will look to score its first victory in school history over the Sea Warriors this week. Prior to this match, the Yellowjackets are 0-15 all-time against Hawaii Pacific. The two teams last met Oct. 14, 2004, an 0-3 loss for the Yellowjackets.

ABOUT BYU-HAWAII
BYU-Hawaii comes into the 2009 season as the defending Pacific West Conference champions. Last season the Seasiders finished the year 16-9 with a trip to the NCAA West Regional Tournament before losing to Cal State San Bernardino. Despite losing their last four matches of the season, BYU-Hawaii rode a 13 game winning streak throughout the middle of the season. Head coach, Wilfred Navalta, looks to regain that mid-season magic and return to the NCAA Division II tournament. The Seasiders will look to get a lot of their support from outside hitter and preseason all-PacWest selection, Losaline Faka’osi. Last season Faka’osi was honored as the PacWest Freshman of the Year, recording 304.5 points through 280 kills and 250 digs during the season. BYU-Hawaii was picked to finish second in this year’s PacWest standings.

MSUB comes into their match with the Seasiders winning three out of the 14 matches in which the two schools have faced off against one another. Though BYU-Hawaii took the last meeting, Oct. 9, 2004, MSUB has won two of the last three and will look to change it’s fortune against the Seasiders.

ABOUT HAWAII-HILO
The third match of the weekend for the Yellowjackets will be against the Pacific West Conference favorites, Hawaii-Hilo. The Vulcans have been tabbed as this season’s favorites and look to dethrone BYU-Hawaii as the conference champions. Last season Hilo finished as the runner-up in a competitive Pacific West. They will look to take over with a very experienced and talented group of returners. The Vulcans have their All-America middle hitter back, Fabiane Seben, and preseason PacWest Player of the Year, Josimara Pinheiro. Both were named to the preseason all-PacWest first-team. The Vulcan duo provided over half of the team kills, 75 percent of the blocks and 40 percent of the service aces. Pinheiro led the squad with 402 kills while Seben tallied a team-high 132 blocks. Coach Bruce Atkinson is very optomistic about the upcoming season, and in addition to his returners, is very excited about the talent of his young freshmen.

Out of all of the Hawaii schools MSUB faces this weekend, they have found the most success against the Vulcans. Coming into this match-up, MSUB holds an 11-15 record all-time versus Hawaii-Hilo. The Yellowjackets have taken three of the last four against the Vulcans.

ABOUT CHAMINADE
The final match of the weekend will pit MSUB against the Silverswords of Chaminade. Chaminade comes into this season predicted to finish seventh among the PacWest Conference. Last season the Silverswords went 10-15 overall and 5-9 in the conference. The Silverswords return six players from last year’s team and welcome in three freshmen and one transfer.

In the all time match-ups against Chaminade, MSUB is 6-18 overall. The Yellowjackets did win the last meeting between the two schools on Oct. 26, 2004 in Billings. The last victory for MSUB in Hawaii against the Silverswords came in a 3-0 sweep Sept. 23, 1998.

Yellowjackets Ink Two-Sport Product
Kayla Neumiller signed with the Yellowjackets for the 2009-2010 season.  Neumiller plans on competing in both volleyball and track & field. Neumiller lettered all four years in high school in volleyball and was an all-state selection as a junior and senior.  She was a first team all-conference selection for three years and earned state all-tournament honors as a senior. Neumiller recorded 330 kills, 48 blocks, 83 aces and 406 digs during her senior year and amassed over 1,000 kills (1,026), 211 aces and 161 blocks in her high school career.