Yellowjackets Pack Wolves, 3-0

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BILLINGS, Mont. – In a night where they hit .270 for the match and held the opposing team to just .059, the Montana State Billings volleyball team rolled against Western Oregon for the second time this season in a 3-0 sweep on Thursday night at Alterowitz Gymnasium. The win extends the Yellowjackets winning streakto a season-high, four games, and moved to 15-10 on the season and 8-5 in conference play.

“I thought we played very well for the first two sets,” said head coach Steve Smith. “We got a little too relaxed in the third set, but were able to close out the match. Heading into these last few matches we’ve just wanted to keep making sure that we keep improving and that we keep getting better. I believe that tonight was another one of our better performances this season and I’m pleased with the way we’ve been playing in the past few games.”

Devon Crotteau recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs with a .289 hitting percentage to lead the Yellowjackets. Jody Lutz recorded one of her best nights offensively this season with a 10 kill effort and a .562 hitting percentage. Hillary Morrison had 33 assists as Jill Trabing led the team with 25 digs, while Melissa Porter led all players with four blocks.

MSUB virtually led from start to finish in every set during the match. In the first, the Yellowjackets jumped out to a 5-1 lead after a kill from Jen Boe. MSUB would later stretch the lead out to as many as 10 and winning by that margin, 25-15, hitting .341 in the set.

The Yellowjackets completely dominated the second set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead to start off. After getting help from the Wolves with a pair of attacking errors, MSUB scored nine-straight unanswered points to blow the game wide open, 20-5. The Yellowjackets went on to win the set, 25-11, to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

The third set proved to be the most difficult of the night for MSUB, hitting .222 while the Wolves hit .178. After building a 21-13 lead, the Yellowjackets saw its lead start to slip behind a 5-0 run and a pair of smaller runs which cut the deficit to 24-22. Boe closed out the match with one of her eight kills on the night.

Western Oregon was led by Laura Sakala who had 11 kills with one dig and one block. Amy Herron recorded a team-high 18 assists, while Danielle English recorded 14 digs for the Wolves. WOU fell to 7-18 on the season and 4-10 in the conference and have now dropped seven straight.

With her 15 kills, Devon Crotteau moved into third place on the all-time kills list at MSUB, passing Oliva Munro who recorded 1,288 kills during her career. Crotteau now has 1,301 kills for her career with three matches remaining.

MSUB now has three matches left in the 2009 season and have assured a winning season after going 7-23 last year. The Yellowjackets close out the home schedule with senior night this Saturday, Nov. 7, against Alaska Fairbanks starting at 7 p.m.