Volleyball Set for Showdown with Rocky Mountain College

BILLINGS, Mont. – Coming off of a weekend split in Alaska, the Montana State Billings volleyball squad gets set to take on intra-city rival, Rocky Mountain College, tomorrow night at 7 p.m. on the Rocky campus. The two teams split last years’ meetings and will meet for the first time this season.

The Yellowjackets enter the match with a 7-6 record, already tying its win total from a year ago, and 1-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. MSUB is coming off of a road trip where it saw a 2-0 lead over Alaska Fairbanks evaporate into a 3-2 loss, only to turn around and sweep Alaska Anchorage the following night.

MSUB is led by the reigning GNAC Player of the Week, senior outside hitter, Devon Crotteau, who is averaging 4.55 kills per set and a hitting percentage of .325. In the Fairbanks game, Crotteau had 31 kills, which is a season-best in the conference.

Also in the mix for the Yellowjackets are Jen Boe, who has 148 kills on the year and is second on the team in digs with 123, and Hillary Morrison, who leads the team with 480 assists. The team also has gotten help this year from Jody Lutz, Melissa Porter and Hannah Johnson as the trio has combined for 175 kills and 130 blocks. Lutz leads the team in blocking with 53, 3 solo and 50 assists.

In the series, MSUB has won 11 of the last 12 match-ups, dating back to Sept. 17, 2003. The split last season was the Jackets’ first loss to Rocky since Oct. 29, 2002, a 3-0 sweep at Rocky. Overall, the Yellowjackets lead the series with 34 wins against 13 losses in 47meetings. Despite the impressive overall record, MSUB holds a slim edge when playing at Rocky, holding an 11-9 record.

This will be the first of two meetings between the two schools, as Rocky will visit Alterowitz Gymnasium on Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. This season ALL MSUB home volleyball matches will be FREE on the internet with live video and audio as the voice of the Yellowjackets, Ken Adelblue, will have the call.