MSUB hosting Rocky in Tuesday match

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Birgitta Gray O: (406) 896-5917 E: birgitta.gray@msubillings.edu October 19, 2015 MSUB hosting Rocky in Tuesday match MSUB Volleyball on Facebook MSUB Volleyball Stack on ISSUU

Ashlynn Ward (#8) and the Yellowjackets have three home matches this week.

Starting with crosstown rival Rocky Mountain College on Tuesday, the MSUB volleyball squad is hosting three matches this week.

BILLINGS, Mont. – MSU Billings is in the middle of a 5-match home stand. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Yellowjackets kick-off a 3-match week with crosstown rival Rocky Mountain College.

Montana State University Billings (3-15) is opening a big week with the match-up against the Battlin’ Bears. MSU Billings played RMC during its first match of the season, an exhibition contest RMC won 3-1.

“The team is looking forward to starting the second half of our season this week with our match against Rocky,” MSUB head coach Lisa Axel said. “We have the opportunity to play all of these teams for a second time and we are ready to come out and battle harder than we did the first time through. The Rocky match is always a fun crosstown rivalry that gets our team excited to compete. The team is focused on reducing the amount of errors we are committing on our side

of the court and being able to hold on to our serve at the end of games in order to put us in a position to win the close sets.

OPENING EXHIBITION: After dropping the first two sets 25-13 and 25-16, the Yellowjackets battled back in an epic third set that featured 24 ties and 12 lead changes, concluding with a MSUB win by a score of 38-36. In the third set, MSUB had 25 kills on a .231 hitting percentage.

For the match, Ashlynn Ward led the Yellowjackets with 21 kills while freshman Miranda McConnell put down 12. Setter Kyndal Williams led the match in assists with 55. Four players from MSUB had 10 or more digs with Taylor Sherman and Kimmy Kirk tying for a team-high 16.

Rocky was dominate at the net, finishing with 12.0 total team blocks to MSUB’s 3.0. Ahlea Billis led the offensive charge, finishing with a team-high18 kills. Tori Bertsch totaled 51 assists and Brooke Myers led all players with 23 digs.

FROM A – W: Ward leads MSU Billings with a .247 attack percentage. The junior outside hitter is averaging 3.38 kills per set. Freshman Taylor Albertson comes in at .222 and is averaging 2.22 kills per set.

CLOSING IN ON 10: Williams is averaging just under 10 assists (9.95 per set) this season and is on a 7-match streak with 30 or more.

M’S IN THE MIDDLE: McConnell and Audri Marrs have been a steady presence for MSUB at the net. McConnell leads the team with .64 blocks per set with Marrs at .58. Marrs (1.89) and McConnell (1.52) are also third and fourth on the team in kills per set.

DOUBLE DIGS: Sherman and Stormy Siemion both had 12 digs in the last match for MSUB. Sherman is averaging 2.89 digs with Siemion coming in at 2.51.

Tuesday, Oct. 20 – 7 p.m.

Alterowitz Gymnasium Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears Head Coach: Laurie Kelly 2015 Record: 21-4

Kyndal Williams is averaging 9.95 assists per set.

Rocky is on an 11-match win streak. The Battlin’ Bears have not dropped a match since Sept. 5 against Dordt College (32). Led by Mariah Stiffarm’s .318 attack percentage (336-93-763), RMC is hitting .230 as a team this season. Billis has 284 kills on the season, averaging 3.4 per set with three more players totaling 100 or more kills this year.

Bertsch has 982 assists on the season and is averaging 10.2 per set.

On the defensive side, Stiffarm leads the team with 129 total blocks, averaging 1.3 per set. Myers is averaging 5.5 digs per set with Billis behind her at 4.2.

The Series: MSUB holds a 36-17 overall record against Rocky. The Yellowjackets are 25-6 at home. Last season, MSUB lost in straight sets at home.

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