MONMOUTH, Ore. – It was a great start to the night for the Western Oregon University volleyball team on Saturday. The Wolves came out and rolled to an opening set win against Montana State Billings. The Yellowjackets regrouped and came back to win the next three sets for the 3-1 win (17-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-21) Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory inside New PE Gym.
Several players had big nights for the Wolves with Isabel Hurliman going for a double-double with 14 kills and 17 digs. It was the sophomore outside hitter's seventh double-double on the season. Bailee Hartsook and Lauren Smith added 11 kills apiece. Laney O'Neil tallied 28 assists and Aubrey Stanton added 20. On defense, Sophie Matlock recorded 26 digs and Kiana Pel added 15. O'Neil was close to another double-double with eight digs.
Both teams kept rallies going as there were 162 digs on the night with Montana State Billings (10-13, 5-8 GNAC) holding an 83-79 edge. WOU (3-16, 1-11 GNAC) held the advantage in assists (56-49) and in kills (57-56). Each team tallied four service aces and the 'Jackets held a 7-4 advantage in blocks. Each team hit over .200 on the night with MSUB recording 56 kills to 14 errors in 159 chances (.264), while WOU had 57 kills to 21 errors in 172 chances (.209).
WOU broke open a 3-3 tie in the first set with the next four points. Hartsook started the run with a kill, while Pel added a service ace and Emily Olson finished the rally with a kill around an error by the 'Jackets. With the Wolves still holding a 17-14 lead, they began to pull away. Hurliman posted a pair of kills, then following kills from Bella MacLellan and Lauren Smith, WOU was looking at a 22-15 lead. The Wolves kept the pressure up and finished off the set with Hurliman tallying a service ace and a kill by Lauren Smith for the 25-17 first set win.
It was a struggle to gain control throughout much of the second set. With WOU ahead 11-10 on a kill by Hurliman, the Yellowjackets began to swing momentum when they tallied the next four points. After WOU fought back to within one on a kill by Olson, MSUB won nine of the final 11 points of the set to take the second at 25-17.
MSUB used that momentum early in the third set moving in front 9-6. WOU responded coming back to take the lead at 10-9 with Hurliman posting three kills around a double-block by Lauren Smith and MacLellan. The teams continued to trade leads and ties over the next several points before a 3-0 run moved MSUB ahead at 19-16. A pair of Hurliman kills and a kill by Delaney Smith down the stretch wasn't enough to slow down the 'Jackets as they closed the set on a 6-4 run to take the third set at 25-20.
The Wolves posted kills from Hartsook, O'Neil and Hurliman to jump ahead 6-5 early on in the fourth. With the set tied at eight, MSUB reeled off the next five points to move ahead at 13-8. With the 'Jackets in control at 20-16, WOU made a big push to get right back into it. A kill by Hurliman ignited a 5-0 run that left the Wolves with the lead. During the run, Lauren Smith and MacLellan posted a double-block and then Lauren Smith closed the run with back-to-back kills that left WOU with a 21-20 lead. Just when it looked like the Wolves might force a decisive fifth set, MSUB had other ideas. The Yellowjackets went on a 5-0 run to finish the set all on kills to grab the fourth at 25-21 and the match at 3-1.
Bayli Monck had a big game for MSUB posting a game-high 21 kills. Joelle Mahowald added 13 and Skylar Reed with 12. Hannah Hashbarger dished out 40 assists. Hannah Hayden tallied five blocks and Christine Funk paced the back row with 24 digs.
Today's game was also a GNAC Unity Game, The GNAC is committed to actively taking steps to provide meaningful & purposeful learning experiences to prepare student-athletes for citizenship in a diverse, inclusive, global interconnected world. One way the GNAC would like to show commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is by having each GNAC institution host a "GNAC Unity Game" each year.
WOU will hit the road this week traveling to face Simon Fraser on Thursday night and Western Washington on Saturday night. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.
