BILLINGS, Mont.—Recording 18 kills in the five-setter, Western Oregon University senior Alisha Bettinson set a DII-era school record with 1,075 career kills in a 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 16-14) marathon loss at Montana State University Billings on Thursday.
 
Entering the match, Bettinson needed eight kills to tie former Wolf Danielle Reese's (2008-12) 1,065 total and the senior surpassed the total in the second set to help the Wolves knot the match at 1-1 as part of the back-an-fourth battle with the Yellowjackets.
 
With the win, MSU Billings improved to 8-17 on the season and 4-11 in GNAC play while Western Oregon fell to 6-17 overall and 2-14 in league competitions. WOU will continue its final road swing of the season by playing at Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks next week. The Wolves close out their season at home on Nov. 16-18 by hosting Seattle Pacific University and Saint Martin's University.
 
The Yellowjackets scored the final five points in the opening set to pull away after nursing a 20-19 lead while WOU's Jenna Compton provided the team's final two kills in the second set to even the match.
 
The two team's traded wins to set up the fifth-set finale that eventually went beyond the 15-point mark.  
 
Playing its first five-set match since Sept. 21, Western Oregon University found itself behind almost immediately in the culminating set as MSUB jumped out to a 6-2 lead with consecutive blocks by Miranda McConnell and Bayli Monck.
 
Once down 11-5, several Wolves got into the attack, including Bettinson, Compton, Sierra Stultz and Marlie Norman, to pull back to within a point (12-11).
 
The Jackets manufactured its first chance at match point on another block for a 14-12 score, giving the home team a pair of chances to finish the evening. A bad set and a MSUB attacking error gave the Wolves extended life but Monck and McConnell returned with successful swings in the ensuing two serves to close out the contest.  
 
In the end, Stultz and MSUB's Madi Vigil shared the match-high with 19 kills each. With 13 kills, Compton joined Stultz and Bettinson with double-figure kill totals. Leila Holt hoisted 52 assists for the Wolves while setting counterpart Kylee Clarke registered 59 assists.  Libbie Hoene set a career high with 36 digs on the night. Hoene's total was three digs shy of an individual GNAC high this season.