2007 Volleyball Weekly Release #5 (September 17)

Sat., Sept. 22 - at University of Alaska Anchorage, 7:00 p.m., AKST
 

The Yellowjackets picked up a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference wins last week to move into a four-way tie for first place in the league.  The Jackets, now 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference handed losses to Saint Martin's 23-30, 30-26, 30-24, 30-19 on Thursday, and Western Oregon 30-24, 30-25, 20-30, 30-24 on Saturday.

Devon Crotteau

Alicia Cazemier

Against Saint Martin's Devon Crotteau led the Jackets' charge posting 17 kills and 16 digs.  Crotteau also recorded a game-high four service aces.  Jennifer Boe and Alicia Cazemier added 15 and 13 kills respectively.  Boe was in on six blocks in the game for the Lady Jackets. 

On Saturday, Cazemier knocked down 21 kills on a .348 attack percentage, while Crotteau also added a career-high 21 kills.  Boe added 10 kills and 12 digs. 

“We knew Western Oregon was on top of the conference,” said Yellowjacket head coach Sara Schaub.  “We came out with all guns firing and did a great job of getting a 3-1 win.  Alicia and Devon were outstanding with 21 kills each.  Stefania did a great job of moving the ball, getting everyone involved, and spreading our offense out.  That really challenged Western Oregon’s blockers.  The foundation of our play was based off our passing, led by Nicole.  I’m very pleased with how we played tonight.  We’re looking forward to heading to Alaska for the first time.”

For the week, the duo of Crotteau and Cazemier combined for 72 of MSUB's 117 kills with Cazemier adding 11 blocks to her stats sheet en route to a nearing school record.  She also had five service aces and hit for a .362 attack percentage.

Cazemier leads the Jackets with an average 4.43 kills per game off a .285 hitting percentage.  She also leads the team with 1.17 blocks per game.  Crotteau and Boe have averaged 4.42 and 2.64 kills per game respectively.  Nicole Kruse's 4.07 digs per game leads the Jackets, while setter Stefania Aladjova is averaging 11.48 assists per game and has a team-leading 30 service aces.
 

GNAC PLAYERS-OF-THE-WEEK:  Rachael Schurman, Central Washington (MB, 6-0, Jr., Spokane, WA - Mead) and Devon Crotteau, Montana State Billings (OH, 6-0, So., Casper, Wyo. – Northern Colorado). . .Schurman, who leads the GNAC in hitting percentage (.379), hit at a .407 clip as the Wildcats ran their win streak to three with home victories over the two Alaska schools.  Schurman had 37 kills (and just four errors) and 14 blocks in the two matches.  In conference matches, she leads the GNAC in kills (4.69), blocks (1.85), points (5.88) and hitting percentage (.400). . .Crotteau had 38 kills, 30 digs and five aces in a pair of 3-1 wins, including a defeat of Western Oregon Saturday as MSUB handed the Wolves their first conference loss.  Crotteau currently ranks fourth in the GNAC in kills, averaging 4.22 per game.

AROUND THE GNAC:   Crotteau and Alicia Cazemier combined for 72 of MSUB’s 117 kills in their wins over Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon.  Cazemier, who had 34 kills, also had a team-best 11 blocks, five aces and hit for a .362 percentage. . .Erin Norris had 30 kills, nine aces and eight blocks and Central Washington held its opponents to a .090 hitting percentage in a pair of home wins.  The Wildcats had 17 blocks against Alaska Fairbanks, the second highest single-match total in the conference this fall. . .Jaime Anderson and Emily Castro had 29 and 25 kills, respectively, for Western Washington in its two wins.  Courtney Schneider had 42 digs, increasing her GNAC-record string of consecutive matches with 10 or more to 61.  She now ranks 12^th  in NCAA Division II history with 2,127 career digs. . .Seattle University’s Nikole Thompson had a GNAC-season high 29 kills in Thursday’s 3-2 loss to Western Oregon.  Thompson also had 86 attempts in the match.  She now has the four highest attempt totals this fall in the conference, including a GNAC-record 88 against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 8.. . .. . .Kayla Mainer had 41 kills and 35 digs and Haley Kostrba had 30 kills and 51 digs as Western Oregon split two road matches, rallying from a 2-0 deficit against Seattle to beat the Redhawks.  . .Cammy Dranginis led Northwest Nazarene with a .464 hitting percentage (16-3-28) and five blocks in its 3-2 loss at Seattle Pacific. . .Megan Thigpen led Alaska Fairbanks with 24 kills and 30 digs and Joanna Johnson had team-highs of 19 kills and seven blocks for Alaska Anchorage in their road losses at WWU and CWU. . .Malia Ibarra and Andrea Tarbet each had 18 kills for Saint Martin’s in road losses at MSU Billings and Seattle.  The Saints have now lost 25 straight over two seasons.

AROUND THE REGION:  The first official NCAA Division II Pacific Regional poll will be announced on Wednesday, Oct. 10. . .GNAC teams are 38-40 in non-conference matches.  The only two remaining non-conference contests remaining are in Billings as the Yellowjackets play at Rocky Mountain Oct. 2 and host the Bears Nov. 1. . . GNAC teams finished 22-25   against Pacific Region opponents, including 17-18 against CCAA teams and 5-7 against the PacWest. 

Click HERE for the complete GNAC weekly release
 

The Wolves only real offensive threat to the Yellowjackets is Rhea Cardwell.  Cardwell leads the team with 111 kills, averaging 3.26 kills, and 3.50 digs per game.  Both Joanna Johnson and Rachel Kidwell have served up 11 aces while Kim Stolk leads the team averaging 0.94 blocks per game.  As a team, the Seawolves are hitting .125.
 

The Nanooks' Jessica Hill and Megan Thigpen have combined for nearly half the team's kills this season.  Thigpen is averaging 3.26 while Hill is a close second with 3.23 kills per game.  Erica Gage leads the Nooks averaging 0.95 blocks per game.  The team has proved to be dangerous behind the service line offering up 96 aces, and are hitting .173.
 

A player had 30 or more kills in a match — Nov. 12, 2004 (Jessica Bratton, 33 vs. Western New Mexico)

A player had 25-29 kills in a match — Sept. 30, 2006 (Jessica Bratton, 25 vs. Texas A&M-International)

A player had 60 or more assists in a match — Sept. 2, 2006 (Natalie Bills, 66 vs. Fort Lewis)

A player had 25 or more digs in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Nicole Kruse (30) vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

A player had 5 or more aces in a match — Aug. 31, 2007 (Devon Crotteau, 8 vs. Colo. Mines)

A player had 10 or more blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (Alicia Cazemier, 10 vs. Colo. St.-Pueblo)

A player had 5-9 blocks in a match — Sept. 8, 2007 (Alicia Cazemier, 7 vs. Seattle Pacific)

The team had an attack percentage over.300 — Oct. 20, 2006 (.400 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State)

The team had 70 or more kills in a match — Oct. 17, 2006 (72 vs. Rocky Mountain College)

The team had 70 or more assists in a match — Sept. 2, 2006 (77 vs. Fort Lewis)

The team had 100 or more digs in a match — Sept. 8, 2006 (116 vs. Central Okla.)

The team had 15 or more blocks in a match — Aug. 25, 2007 (15.0 vs. Minn. St. Moorhead)

The team had 10-14 blocks in a match - Sept. 8, 2007 (11.0 vs. Seattle Pacific)

Kills
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (526)
Career – 1. Jessica Bratton (1,376); 3. Alicia Cazemier (1,180); 18. Jessica Lechner (408)

Assists
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (1,327)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (4,354)

Digs
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (440)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (1,530); 5. Nicole Kruse (955)

Service Aces
Season – 1. Nicole Kruse (62)
Career – 1. Gina Langer (178); 4. Nicole Kruse (110); 6. Alicia Cazemier (97)

Total Blocks
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (169)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (446); 16. Jessica Lechner (128)

Solo Blocks
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (67)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (148)

Block Assists
Season – 1. Deb Dianda (119)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (298); 15. Jessica Lechner (101)

Attack Percentage
Season – 1. Andrea Donahue (.373)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (.308); 5. Jessica Lechner (.239)

Kills per Game
Season – 1. Diane Vargo (4.61)
Career – 1. Ali Watson (4.10); 6. Alicia Cazemier (3.47) 

Assists per Game
Season – 1. Natalie Bills (12.52)
Career – 1. Natalie Bills (12.16)

Blocks per Game
Season – 1. Alicia Cazemier (1.52)
Career – 1. Alicia Cazemier (1.31) 

Digs per Game
Season – 1. Connie Meyer (4.75)
Career – 1. Connie Meyer (3.96); 3. Nicole Kruse (3.84)

Games Played
Career – 1. Gina Langer (462); 8. Alicia Cazemier (340); 15. Nicole Kruse (249); 16. Jessica Lechner (246)

Sara Schaub was hired as the Yellowjackets' tenth head coach since the program was reinstated in 1984. Schaub’s coaching experience was most recently at Division I Eastern Michigan University where she was the first assistant since 2002.  She helped the Eagles to the program’s first Mid-America Conference West Division Championship in 2005.  Schaub’s responsibilities were recruiting, practice organization, and leading a successful volleyball camp program at Eastern.   

“I am extremely excited and honored to be the next head coach at MSU Billings,” said Schaub.  “I am very grateful to Dr. Gray and the entire search committee for giving me this opportunity.  I feel very fortunate to join such an upbeat and visionary department.  I look forward to working with the student-athletes, building an exciting program, and being part of the Billings community.”

Schaub, originally from Huron, Ohio, was a four-year starter for the Eastern Michigan Eagles as an outside hitter.  Schaub is the only player in Mid-American Conference history to average over four kills and four digs per game in the same season.  She currently holds the record at Eastern Michigan for career attack attempts and is second for career kills and digs, sixth for career aces, and seventh for career block assists.

Schaub graduated from Eastern Michigan in 2001 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Accounting Information Systems.  She also holds a Master of Science in Accounting, graduating Magna Cum Laude from EMU in 2002.  In her free time, Schaub is an avid beach volleyball player and has participated in the Association of Volleyball Professionals, Extreme Volleyball Professionals, and Midwest Professional Volleyball Association, winning many events.

Jay Christensen begins the season as a first-year assistant coach for the Lady Yellowjackets. With a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science-Sports Medicine, he also is a second year graduate student in the athletic training program. 

Christensen moved to Billings from Laie, Hawaii, and comes with a varied athletic background. All-state in soccer and four-time state champion in swimming, he played soccer for a U-17 team throughout Europe and after high school helped represent the United States, swimming in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. 

He enjoys surfing, golfing, swimming, basketball, soccer and reading.  Jay, his wife Cassandra and son Kai live in Billings.

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