MONMOUTH, Ore.—Rebounding to split the opening week of GNAC play, Western Oregon posted a three-set sweep (25-21, 25-16, 25-23) over Montana State Billings on Thursday night inside NPE Gymnasium.

Western Oregon (4-5, 1-1 GNAC) held MSU Billings (6-3, 0-1 GNAC) to its second lowest hit percentage of the year and never trailed by more than two points at any point in the match.         
      
"The big thing is how we bounced back with our focus and our identity. We looked more like ourselves out there tonight," WOU head coach Tommy Gott said. "I thought we won the serve-pass battle and were able to get them out of system.

After a fairly even opening set, the Wolves cruised to a 25-16 win in the follow-up for a commanding 2-0 lead. WOU was well on its way of repeating the effort in eth final set but MSUB stormed back from a 15-5 deficit to know the set at 23-23.

Now playing even, a Sianna DeCarli swing gained match point for the Wolves where Juliana Cameron iced the match with an ace for the final point.

"We could have made it easier on ourselves in the end by maintaining that killer confidant attitude, but we showed a lot of resiliency in the end. There's no easy night in our conference and that third set was a good reminder. Juliana came through in a tough spot. That serve is one of her biggest strengths and she had the right mindset to earn that last point."

DeCarlis led WOU with nine kills and was followed by seven each from Marlie Norman and Mariella Vandenkooy. Leila Holt and Maddie Mehciz combined for 30 of the team's 33 assists while Sierra Stultz led the club with 12 digs.

The Wolves also outblocked its opponent, 7 to 5 with Morgan Haskett providing five block assists on the night.

"Our right side came up huge with Sienna and Jenna (Compton) hitting and blocking well tonight," Gott said.

The Wolves will return to action on Sept. 13 when it travels to face Seattle Pacific University. The team's next home match will take place on Sept. 20 against Central Washington.