Last 2 matches of the season on tap for ‘Jackets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu November 17, 2015 Last 2 matches of the season on tap for ‘Jackets Volleyball on Facebook Volleyball Stack on ISSUU Interviews with senior Kyndal Williams and head coach Lisa Axel MSUB Record Books GNAC Record Books

Senior Kyndal Williams will play her last two matches in a Yellowjackets uniform this week.

MSUB senior Kyndal Williams is playing her last two matches in a Yellowjacket uniform this week as MSUB travels to Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington to close out the 2015 season.

BILLINGS, Mont. – This week four-year starter Kyndal Williams and the Yellowjackets will play their final two matches of the 2015 season. MSU Billings is on the road for conference contests against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.

It has not been an easy season for the MSU Billings (6-21 5-13 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) volleyball team.

The ‘Jackets have struggled to find balance with their young starters and veteran players. MSUB opened the season 1-7, and lost both its opening conference matches at home against CWU and NNU in straight sets.

There have been improvements along the year and Williams realizes this weekend is a great time to put everything out on the court. “We just have to go out there knowing we have nothing to lose,” she said. “We may have lost to them in straight sets, but we are a different team now and hopefully we can make some key adjustments. I know that we want to play to the best of our abilities, have fun, and not worry too much about the outcome.”

“The team is looking to put together a complete weekend on the road,” MSUB head coach Lisa Axel said. “Our goal is to play consistently from the first whistle of the match to the last whistle. We continue to play well for short spurts to entire games, but not the entire match.”

The Yellowjackets are coming off two losses last week. After winning two matches the week before, it was disappointing to play so well at the start of each before surrendering the final sets and the match.

MSU Billings was up one set against Concordia (Ore.) before the Cavaliers battled back, and two sets against Western Oregon before the Wolves made an inspired comeback during their Senior Night.

This week the Yellowjackets look to close out the season on a high-note, but will face two teams that beat the ‘Jackets in straight sets. Central Washington is tied for second place in the conference standings while Northwest Nazarene is fourth. The two teams will first play each other on Tuesday in Nampa, Idaho before hosting the Yellowjackets later in the week.

“We have two very tough opponents coming up and we will need everyone to be playing at their best to be able to win these matches,” Axel said.

“We are definitely capable of coming away with a couple of victories if we can play up to our potential.”

UP IN FRONT: Ashlynn Ward had two big matches Along with setter Kyndal Williams, Audri Marrs will play her last two collegiate matches this week. for MSUB last week. The junior finished with 38 total kills and hit above .200 on the outside. In the middle, Audri Marrs had her biggest match of the season last week against Western Oregon. The senior completed 17 kills on a .500 attack percentage, adding in three blocks during the 5set marathon in Monmouth, Ore.

THREE STRAIGHT: Freshman Taylor Sherman earned her fourth career double-double last week and third in-a-row finishing above 10 in both kills and digs. The all-court player had a career-high 12 kills against the Wolves while adding in 10 digs.

KIRK KICKS IN A CAREER-HIGH: For the first time in her career, libero Kimmy Kirk totaled above 30 in digs in a match.

Against WOU, Kirk contributed a career-high 34, tying for a match-high. She also had 10 assists in the last two matches, including seven against Concordia (Ore.).

CLOSING IN ON TWO MORE: This season, Williams has climbed the record books and is now No. 2 all-time at MSUB in assists with 3,976. With these two last matches of the season, the senior setter has the opportunity to enter two more categories. With 78 total service aces in her career, Williams needs just one more to tie Jody Newbury for 10th all-time at MSUB. She is also four sets back from entering the top-20 in games played in the GNAC. Williams has 391 in her career and could potentially move as high as No. 14 on the GNAC all-time career list.

MSUB All-Time Assists Rk. Name 1 Gina Langer 2 Kyndal Williams 3 Natalie Bills 4 Mandi Taylor 5 Hillary Morrison

Assists 4,354 3,976 3,782 1,932 1,849

Years Played 1996-99 2012-present 2003-06 2000-01 2007-09

MSUB All-Time Sets Played Rk. Name Sets Played Years Played 1 Gina Langer 462 1996-99 2 Jody Newberry 458 1996-99 3 Jessica Lechner 416 2005-08 4 Alicia Cazemier 412 2004-07 5 Brandee Sayles 404 1994-97 T6 Jessica Bratton 391 2003-06 T6 Kyndal Williams 391 2012-present 8 Monica Grimsrud 387 2011-14 9 Chelsey Walter 370 2011-14 GNAC All-Time Career Assists Rk. Name Assists 1 Kate Reome 4,780 2 Liz Bishop 4,176 3 Jenna Von Moos 4,009 4 Kyndal Williams 3,976 5 Erika Brunson 3904

Years Played 2001-04 2000-03 2003-06 2012-present 2001-04

Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015 – 7:00 p.m.

Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders Head coach: Doug English 2015-16 record: 17-9, 14-4 GNAC

School CWU WWU SPU MSUB Seattle

Two weeks ago, Northwest Nazarene had its 10-match win streak broken up with conference road losses to Alaska (3-2) and Alaska Anchorage (3-1), but the Crusaders bounced back last week with wins over Seattle Pacific (3-1) and Saint Martin’s (3-0).

NNU leads the nation in blocks per set with an average 2.90. Last week senior Jenna Caywood picked up GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors with 15 total in two wins. As a team, the Crusaders are hitting .221, but are limiting opponents to .154.

Sophomore Madi Farrell leads the conference in both attack percentage (.376) and blocks per set (1.52). Sophomore Kendra Bodin is sixth in the GNAC in kills per set with 3.16. Senior Elayna Rice is next for NNU on the list at No. 16 with 2.53 per set.

Last Time Out: Ward picked up 13 kills, but MSUB was limited to a .140 attack percentage. The Crusaders put-up nine blocks at the net. Caywood and Farrell had four and Rice pitched in two. Bodine finished with a match-high 19 kills while Rice had 10. NNU was a solid .379 on the attack, finishing with just 10 total team errors.

The Series: (5-17, A 1-8) MSU Billings has lost the last seven meetings between the teams. NNU holds an 8-1 record on its home court. The last time MSU Billings won against the Crusaders was in 2012.

Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015 – 7:00 p.m. Pacific time Central Washington University Wildcats Head coach: Mario Andaya 2015-16 record: 19-6, 15-3 GNAC Central Washington is on a 3-match win streak, including two sweeps at home last week against Saint Martin’s and Seattle Pacific. The Wildcats have just three conference losses on their record this season, two against Alaska Anchorage (3-1, 3-2) and a tough 5-set match at home against Western Washington.

Central Washington is one back in the conference standings from Alaska Anchorage (16-2), but the for the conference title CWU will need to win against Northwest Nazarene on the road and at home against MSUB, while the Seawolves lose both their home matches against Concordia (Ore.) and Western Oregon.

CWU is hitting a conference third-best .235. They lead the league in blocks averaging 2.90 per set.

Sophomore Sabrina Wheelhouse is No. 2 in the league in attack percentage at .370 and second in the GNAC in blocks per set with 1.39. Senior Linden Firethorne is third in the GNAC in kills per set at 3.61 while in the backcourt Lindsey Milner is averaging 3.76 digs per set.

Last Time Out: Leading MSUB on both offense and defense, Sherman recorded her first career double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. CWU posted a team .347 attack percentage with less than 10 team errors. Firethorne had 15 kills to lead the offense. In the back court, Milner contributed 14 digs.

The Series: (4-15, A 2-7) MSU Billings holds an all-time record of 4-16 against Central Washington and are 2-7 on the road. The Yellowjackets have lost the last three matches to the Wildcats in straight sets. msubsports.com | #JacketNation--