by ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The MSU Billings volleyball team fell to Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Central Washington on the road 25-18, 25-19, and 27-25, Saturday at Nicholson Pavilion.
The win improves Central Washington to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the GNAC. MSU Billings falls to 1-12 on the year and 0-4 in the GNAC.
The Yellowjackets battled back from a deficit in the second frame to take the lead 13-10, before a late push from the Wildcats bought Central Washington a 2-0 lead. In the third set, the Yellowjackets ground their way ahead early, surrendering the advantage late, only to fight back to recapture the lead, 23-21, before losing control in the final points.
“I thought we were evenly matched with Central Washington tonight,” MSB head coach Casey Williams said. “They were a good team and very consistent. We had more attempts, kills, and digs than them. The determining factor was how many errors we had on the net. I thought there were some positives that came out of tonight, and I am looking forward to our series next weekend.”
MSUB’s Ashlynn Ward (Standing Rock Sioux) came away with her second double-double of the season, leading the match with 14 kills and 15 digs. Stormy Siemion found herself in familiar territory, adding-in her sixth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs.
Central Washington played 14 different players on its roster during the match. Madison Weg led a balanced offense, clearing a team-high eight kills. Sara Joffs and Kiah Jones had three block assists each. Nikole Cook finished with 15 assists and Gaby Aihara added 12. Kyla Morgan had 15 digs.
The Yellowjackets completed the match with more kills (37-35), digs (65-57), and assists (35-28), but fell behind with team errors. The Wildcats claimed a .127 attack percentage, while MSUB closed the night at .081, finishing with 26 hitting errors to 19 from CWU.
