MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The Western Oregon volleyball team looks to take another step in its resurgent season as it hosts Montana State Billings Thursday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday at New PE Building.

The Wolves earlier this season defeated MSUB 3-0 on Oct. 1 and lost at Seattle Pacific 3-1 on Sept. 29.

STANDINGS

VOLLEYBALL	CONF	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
Alaska Anchorage	12-1	.923	22-2	.917	10-0	8-1	4-1	Won 1
Western Washington	10-2	.833	15-5	.750	10-1	4-1	1-3	Lost 1
Northwest Nazarene	9-4	.692	16-5	.762	8-3	5-2	3-0	Won 4
Central Washington	8-5	.615	13-8	.619	4-2	5-4	4-2	Won 1
Seattle Pacific	7-6	.538	9-12	.429	5-2	2-7	2-3	Lost 1
Simon Fraser	6-6	.500	9-12	.429	5-2	1-5	3-5	Won 2
Alaska	5-8	.385	15-10	.600	8-3	3-6	4-1	Lost 2
Western Oregon	4-8	.333	8-12	.400	2-3	2-5	4-4	Won 1
Saint Martin's	2-10	.167	12-10	.545	6-4	2-6	4-0	Lost 6
Montana State Billings	0-13	.000	7-15	.318	5-6	1-8	1-1	Lost 8

WOLVES HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022 STATISTICS
WOU picked up a 3-1 (25-22, 25-19, 20-25, 25-18) victory at home Saturday against Saint Martin's with Madison Hornback (12), Bella MacLellan (11) and Bailee Hartsook (10) each finishing in double figures in kills while Laney O'Neil had a team-best 31 assists.

Sarah Crowell (2.49), Horback (2.47) and Hartsook (2.45) lead the team in kills per set, O'Neil is averaging a WOU-best 5.25 assists per set followed by Emily West (4.96) and Hornback (24), Ally Henry (19) and O'Neil (16) are each in double figures this season in aces. Defensively, Henry is averaging a team-best 3.69 digs followed by Hornback at 2.72. Delaney Smith (0.79) and Chloe Asciutto (0.77) lead the team in blocks per set.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022 STATISTICS
The Yellowjackets dropped their seventh and eighth match in a row last week, losing at home to Northwest Nazarene (3-0) and Central Washington (3-2).

Caty Havekost leads the team in kills at 2.69 per set followed by Jahsita Fa'ali'i at 2.40. Hannah Hashbarger (5.92) and Alexis King (4.02) lead the team in assists per set while Fa'ali'i hasa team-best 21 aces. Christine Funk leads the team at 4.16 digs per set while Paiten Langston (0.87 per set) and Hannah Hayden (0.81) lead the team in blocks.

SEATTLE PACIFIC HEADING INTO THE WEEK | 2022 STATISTICS
The Falcons split last week, winning a five-setter at home against Central Washington (winning the final set 16-14) Thursday before falling Saturday at home to Northwest Nazarene in four sets.

Sarah Brachvogel leads the team in kills at 2.41 per set, followed by Ashley Antoniak (2.31) and Maddie Pruden (2.05). Emily Tulino (4.72) and Linsey Lambert (4.12) lead the team in assists while Allison Wilks (28), Brachvogel (25) and Antoniak (21) lead SPU in aces. Defensively, Abigail Cunningham leads the team at 3.72 digs per set while Wilks is averaging more than a block per set at 1.01 - and Hannah Hair isn't far behind at 0.95 per set.
  MAKING STRIDES IN YEAR ONE UNDER NAHALE-A
The Western Oregon volleyball team with its eight wins has already surpassed last season's win total (4-21), their 2019 (5-22), 2018 (6-21) and 2017 (7-20) win totals in head coach Kaiao Nahale-a's first season at the helm. Their four GNAC wins is the most since winning seven conference games in 2016. The Wolves are looking for their first double-figure win season since that 2016 season (10-17).

BIG WOLVES WIN TO OPEN GNAC PLAY - FIRST VICTORY IN FAIRBANKS SINCE 2016
WOU opened GNAC play on Sept. 8 with a five-set win over Alaska Fairbanks, breaking the Nanooks' seven-match win streak, snapping an eight-match losing streak to them and winning in Fairbanks for the first time since 2016. Sarah Crowell paced the Wolves with a season-high 16 kills while Madison Hornback added 15 and Bailee Hartsook had 10.

HORNBACK, CASAREZ MAKE SMU ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
The Western Oregon volleyball team had a pair of representatives on the SMU All-Tournament Team from the event that took place from Sept. 1-3 in Lacey, Washington, in Madison Hornback and Sophia Casarez. Hornback had a big weekend in totaling 52 kills, 47 digs and nine aces in the Wolves' four matches while Casarez had 96 assists for the Wolves.