FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu October 13, 2016 Heart-breaker during Alumni Night at Alterowitz MSUB Volleyball on Facebook | MSUB Volleyball Stack on ISSUU | Box Score
Stormy Siemion earned her seventh double-double of the season during the match against the Cavaliers.
MSU Billings forces a fifth and deciding set, falling in a heart-breaker to the visiting Cavaliers in an extended match during Alumni Night at Alterowitz. BILLINGS, Mont. – The MSU Billings volleyball team evened the match winning sets three and four, but a big final set opening lead for the Cavaliers led to a five set defeat of the Yellowjackets 25-18, 26-24, 20-25, 20-25, and 15-7 Thursday during a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at Alterowitz. The win improves Concordia (Ore.) to 19-8 overall and 6-4 in the GNAC. MSUB falls to 2-16 on the year and 1-8 in conference action. “I thought there were some really good moments tonight and we played cohesive in the middle sets,” MSUB head coach Casey Williams said. “We just weren’t able to finish like we should have. Concordia did a good job of coming out strong in the fifth set. I did think Ashlynn and Stormy had stellar nights on offense. We also had a great time on Alumni Night, and we appreciate all of our former ‘Jackets coming out and supporting us.”
Ashlyn Ward led the Yellowjackets amassing 24 kills on a .400 (24-6-45) attack percentage. During the match, Ward became just the eighth player in Yellowjacket history to accumulate 1,000 career kills. Stormy Siemion finished with her seventh double-double of the season at 17 kills and 16 digs. The Yellowjacket finished the match with a season-high 10.5 team blocks. Casey Rich was one short of her season-high, completing a match-high six block assists at the net, adding in six kills. Siemion and Ward both had three block assists and Lexa de Jesus and Miranda McConnell contributed two each. De Jesus earned eight kills and McConnell five in the match. Freshman Angala Jensen did complete a season-high, ending the five set marathon with 53 assists. She finished with her fourth double-double of the year adding in 10 digs. Kylee Cornelio ended the night with a match-high 22 digs. The Yellowjackets hit .219 (63-28-160) on the night just behind the .298 (72-22-168) from the Cavaliers. MSUB finished with more digs (65-56) and blocks (10.5-10.0). Tori Johnson at 21 kills led four CU players in double-digit kills. Colby Barnette and Brenna Huwe both finished with 16 and Brianna Hogan added 11. Taylor Sonnenberg led the team in digs as Huwe amassed 16. Michele Brown finished with a match-high 62 assists. Hogan had 5.0 block assists, Barnette and Huwe both finished with four. The Yellowjackets hit .513 in the third frame, but were ousted on a .600 from the Cav’s in the final set as CU finished with nine kills and no errors on 15 attempts for a .600 attack percentage. MSU Billings was unable to sustain momentum in the opening set, as the Cavaliers were able to counter with short runs to take control of the scoreboard. For the ‘Jackets, de Jesus sent a ball off the block to win an early point for MSUB. Barnette countered out of the right side with a kill through the outstretched hands of the MSUB front row. Jensen made a heads-up play, shooting the ball into the open court. The Cavaliers drew ahead on a short 4-0 run, but MSUB punched back, including points from Rich and Siemion. Rich forced a ball through the block off a short back set from Jensen. Britt Beyer won a point for CU on a put-back after a MSUB overpass. Two big defensive gets from the MSUB back line resulted in a point for the ‘Jackets. Ward earned a side out, forcing a hard hit thought the block. After CU took an 18-11 lead, MSUB fought back with points from their outside hitters. The Cavaliers ended the first set on a 3-2 run. MSU Billings opened with three blocks during the opening seven points of the second set for the ‘Jackets. McConnell ran a slide to the outside to pull MSUB ahead 8-5. A hard shot from Huwe pulled the Cavaliers to within one and Brianna Hogan tied the set with a kill to the right side. Gaining some distance, Concordia (Ore.) kept pushing points with their offense. Siemion tried a tip that was sent back by the CU block, but on a hard hit won MSUB a point off the block. Jensen went back to Siemion again for back-to-back Yellowjacket points. Up high on the block, Ward cleared a ball off the top, and an ace from Siemion tied the second frame at 14. A defensive tour-de-force rally from MSUB that culminated in a kill from Ward drew the Yellowjackets two points back at 19-17. Getting a break on a CU service error, two good serves from Jensen allowed MSUB to push back. At 24-22, MSUB fought back earning two more points, including one from Ward to tie the second frame at 24. The Cavaliers forced two more points through on kills from Hogan and Johnson.
The third set was competitive from the get-go with both teams trading points. Ward finished a well dug ball from Siemion by pounding the attack into the block. A dig from Rich led to a back row attack from Siemion to pull the ‘Jackets ahead 11-9. Keeping up the pressure, de Jesus found the line on the right side and pumped a second attack off the end of the block. Jensen used an overpass to dump a ball into the back court and stretched lead to 14-10. Both teams added two points. Siemion used a smart push to the back court and on a big defensive play from Cornelio Siemion found the open spot again, this time cross court. Rich followed up on the MSUB defense, sending the ball back straight down to the Cavalier side for a 20-13 MSUB advantage. Ward came through on a tight set from Jensen for 2318. Barnette put one down in the middle and Johnson cleared a tip attack over the top of the block. CU earned two more points, but a timeout from MSUB put the ‘Jackets back on track. Ward’s attack cross court earned a set point and a CU error finished the frame for the ‘Jackets. The Cavaliers quickly drove out to a 7-1 early lead in the fourth frame. Not done, MSUB found its way back into the set on an exciting 10-2 rally. McConnell first halved the deficit with a kill on the slide at 10-5. Rich finished with a big block for the ‘Jackets and a double block from Ward and Rich closed the gap to 12-9. A service ace from Siemion pulled MSUB to double digits, and back-to-back kills from Ward tied the frame at 12. From a Siemion bump set, Ward drove home the point to take the first lead of the frame for MSUB. The Cav’s found their footing with a block from Barnette and a kill from Johnson. Ward came through for MSUB again with a kill at 19-18. CU earned one, but Siemion countered on a hard shot cross court. Siemion pumped home two points and an error on the CU attack pulled MSUB ahead 23-20. A solo block from Rich in the middle earned MSUB a set point and Siemion evened the match with a kill off the block. The Cavaliers opened the final set with six points on four MSUB errors and two kills. De Jesus fought for a ball down the right line and Ward opened up for a point through the block. The ‘Jackets closed the gap to 9-5 on a pair of kills from Ward. Barnette and Lindsey Dorsey added two more for CU and an 11-5 lead. A kill off the block from Siemion crept the ‘Jackets to 11-6. CU stormed ahead on a 4-1 finishing run, ending with a kill from Dorsey. THE BUZZ: With her seventh double-double of the year, Siemion named St. Vincent Healthcare Athlete of the Match. UP NEXT: MSU Billings continues its hosting duties welcoming GNAC opponent Western Oregon to Alterowitz on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. --msubsports.com | #JacketNation--