MONMOUTH, Ore.—Nearly posting a wire-to-wire win, Western Oregon University handed a 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-18) sweep to Montana State University Billings on Saturday afternoon inside the New P.E. Building.
With the win, WOU improved to 6-9 on the season and 2-6 in GNAC. MSUB fell to 6-11 overall and 2-6 in league play.

"The big thing we have been preaching is to emphasize the 'mini' points and battles within a match and I think that showed in our engagement and discipline taking care of the little things," head coach Tommy Gott said.

The Wolves jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first set early kills by Mariella Vandenkooy and Sydney Blankinship while its defense held the Yellowjackets to a -.089 hitting percentage for a dominating opening win.

After allowing the first point of the second set via an ace by MSUB's Alexa Smythe, WOU retaliated with eight straight points and eventually generated a commanding 15-advantage. The Yellowjackets made a late run with the hopes to tie the match, but the homes side won out with Jenna Compton posting a pair of late kills.

MSUB created a brief 4-1 lead in the third before an 8-1 run for the Wolves cemented the sweep. Blankinship provided four WOU points during the spree and finished the match with nine kills. Teammate Mariella Vandenkooy registered a match-high 20 kills, a tally tied for the fourth-most by a GNAC player this year in a three-set match.

Alisha Bettinson recorded 19 digs to become the fifth WOU player in its DII era to accumulate 1,000 career digs. The senior now has 1,013 career digs and is seven terminations away from reaching the same mark in total kills.

Libbie Hoene added 11 digs as the team's libero, helping the team create a 53-to-44 edge. Leila Holt had a match-high 36 assists.

"We executed from the service line and that led to us having overall success on defense," Gott said. "Offensively, our passing and digging allowed us to stay in system and our hitters gave us balance as they provided Leila with options on the set." 

WOU will stay home next week to welcome Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 12 and Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 14. Both matches are set for a 7 p.m. start. 

"Those two teams are coming in and playing really good volleyball," Gott said. "They are resilient teams and we will have to make sure we have that mindset."