Box Score
ELLENSBURG (Nov. 12) -- Central Washington hit .414 in the opening set and cruised to a 25-12 first-frame win, but the Wildcats were outmatched by visiting Montana State Billings in suffering a 12-25, 25-13, 25-20, 30-28 loss to the Yellowjackets on Thursday night at Nicholson Pavilion.
The loss snapped a three-match winning streak for CWU, which is now 15-11 overall and 7-8 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Montana State Billings improved to 17-10 overall and 10-5 in the GNAC with the win.
Freshman
Marcy Hjellum (Kennewick/Kamiakin HS) had five kills and a .400 hitting percentage in the opening set as Central sizzled offensively with a .414 efficiency and 14 kills en route to the easy set victory. The score was tied just once before the Wildcats took a 3-2 lead and separate runs of 5-0 and 4-0 enabled CWU to win by a decisive margin.
Montana State Billings responded in the second set by scoring the first five points and hitting .270 in the frame. The Yellowjackets also contained Central's offense with six total blocks as the Wildcats hit at a minus-.093 percentage.
Central never led in the third set despite losing by just five points. Each team traded points as neither scored more than three straight tallies at any given stretch, but the combination of Jen Boe and Devon Crotteau had 14 of MSU Billings' 16 kills in the third set as the Yellowjackets took a 25-20 win.
The final set was neck-and-neck throughout, with neither team took control of the match. Montana State Billings held a 23-19 lead late in the set, and had its first match point at 24-22, but the Wildcats responded with three straight tallies to earn their own set point, and the teams traded points until the Yellowjackets scored back-to-back counters for the final two points on kills by Boe and Crotteau.
Central junior
Kady Try (Brentwood, Calif./Mead HS) finished as the Wildcats' leader with 12 kills while adding eight digs and four assisted blocks. Hjellum was next with 10 kills, while senior Erin Norris (Spokane/Mead HS) finished with nine kills. Junior Bri Gregory (Bremerton) led Central's blocking effort, which outblocked MSU Billings by a 12-11 count, with eight assisted blocks and two of the Wildcats' three service aces. Brandie Vea (Honolulu, Hawaii/Kalani HS) and Meg Ryan (Spokane/Mead HS) had 21 and 12 digs, respectively.
Boe and Crotteau both had double-doubles for the Yellowjackets, who defeated CWU for just the second time in the series history. Boe finished with 21 kills, 18 digs, and a .300 hitting percentage, while Crotteau totaled 17 kills and 20 digs. Jody Lutz had six blocks for MSUB, while Jill Trabing led all players with 25 digs.
Central Washington will close out its 2009 season on Saturday night (Nov. 14) at 7 p.m. versus Saint Martin's on Senior Night. Three seniors -- Norris, Deidre Scheidt (Milton/Fife HS), and Meggie Graf (Selah) -- will all play their final collegiate matches and be recognized prior to the match against the Saints.
