ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team has come out on top in seven of their last eight matches. The Wildcats look to win their fourth consecutive match against the Montana State University Billings Yellowjackets on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT. 
 
GAME INFORMATION
Wildcats vs. Montana State University Billings
Saturday | 12 p.m. PT
Alterowitz | Billings, Mont.   
 
NCAA WEST REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA released their regional rankings on Wednesday. The Wildcats rank sixth in the west region. Defense has been a strength for the Wildcats throughout the 2019 season. The team ranks 43^rd in the country with an average of 2.17 blocks per set. They rank 46^th in digs with 17.66 per set. 

LAST TIME OUT
CWU was in Nampa, Idaho for a match against Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday. The Wildcats disposed of the Nighthawks 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-13) in the road contest.
 
The Wildcats racked up an outstanding .277 hitting percentage in a three-set sweep. The team committed half as many attack errors as they did in the first match. The Wildcats converted 45 kills as they powered past the Nighthawks.  
 
Makala Swart was excellent for the Wildcats. She racked up 12 kills on a strong .320 hitting percentage. Bridgette Webb couldn't miss. She had nine kills on a stellar .727 hitting percentage. Julia Mellander had a strong night on both sides of the net. She had seven kills and four total blocks on Tuesday. Sharma contributed off the bench for the Wildcats. Sierra Sharma added six kills on a .308 hitting percentage.
 
Gabrielle Aihara and Sydney Remsberg shared the load in running the offense. Aihara led the group with 18 assists while Remsberg added 16 assists of her own. Kyla Morgan led the squad with 16 digs during the match. 
 
GNAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the fourth time this season, Kyla Morgan was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week. 
 
Morgan was instrumental in two five set victories for the Wildcats last weekend. The first came last Thursday when the team outlasted Alaska Fairbanks 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-12). Morgan finished the match with 28 digs. She added two service aces and three assists to a solid night. 
 
Last Saturday, the Wildcats faced a 2-1 match deficit against Alaska Anchorage. The team was able to grind out a 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10) victory over the Seawolves. Morgan had 23 digs and five assists. In total, Morgan had 51 digs over 10 sets played for an average of 5.1 digs per set.  
 
Earlier this season, Morgan became the only player to reach 2,000 career digs. After Tuesday's match, Morgan's new career total sits at 2,191 career digs. She ranks fourth all-time in conference history. Morgan is just 125 digs away from passing Seattle Pacific's (2008-11) Anna Herold for third all-time on the GNAC list. 

WILDCATS IN THE GNAC
The Wildcats enter the final three weeks of the regular season looking to make noise in the conference. The Wildcats remain fourth in conference by keeping opponents to a .163 hitting percentage. The Wildcats are rank fourth in blocks by averaging 2.17 per set. The team ranks third with 17.66 digs per set.

The defensive is fueled by performances in reception and at the net. Morgan has moved into second in the conference with 5.60 digs per set. She also ranks 24^th in the country in the same category. Mellander ranks fourth in conference with 1.19 blocks per set. Mellander's totals are 27^th best in the country. 
 
Experienced players highlight the offensive standouts for the Wildcats. Aihara's 8.65 assists per set is the seventh best in conference. Swart ranks sixth in conference with 3.27 kills per set. The team also ranks third in assists (12.16) and kills (13.02) per set. 
 
SCOUTING MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY BILLINGS 
The Yellowjackets find themselves near the bottom of the conference standings. They've gone 7-17 overall and have gone 4-10 GNAC play. Opponents are hitting .231 against the Yellowjackets while the 'Jackets have hit .181 on the season. 
 
Bayli Monck leads the Yellowcjakets offense. She's racked up 248 kills in 91 sets played for an average of 2.73 kills per set. Other standouts include Maddi Vigil and Skyler Reed. Vigil is averaging 2.56 kills per set while Reed is able to convert 2.37 kills per set. 
 
Hannah Hashbarger leads the group in assists. She's averaged 9.36 assists per set, good enough for sixth best in conference. Vigil has also provided the team a boost from behind the service line. She's had 24 aces on the season, the most on the team. 
 
Joelle Mahowald is a menace at the net. She's had 73 total blocks in 90 sets played. Mahowald's totals include 16 solo blocks. Monck is also tough at the net. She's had 63 total blocks on the season. Marissa Logozzo leads the group in digs. She's averaging 3.71 digs per set. 

SERIES HISTORY
All-time, the Wildcats are 20-5 against the Yellowjackets. The Wildcats are 11-2 in Nicholson Pavilion and 9-3 in Billings, Mont. In recent history, the Wildcats have own nine of the last meetings with the Yellowjackets.  
 
The two teams played each other on Oct. 10. The Wildcats swatted the Yellowjackets 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-18) out of Nicholson Pavilion. 
 
Lexi Schamadan did not lead the Wildcats with kills at the end of the night. It was Swart who pioneered the Wildcat offense with 12 kills on a .324 hitting percentage. Swart added seven digs and one total block. Another standout for the Wildcats included Ashley Kaufman. The freshman pounded seven kills on an impressive .375 hitting percentage. 
 
Hitters were helped by excellent sets from Aihara and Remsberg. Aihara led the squad with 21 assists, while Remsberg joined in with 10 of her own. The duo helped power a Wildcat offense that finished the game with a .226 hitting percentage. 
 
Even with the strong offense, the Wildcat defense was much more fearsome. The Wildcats were able to hold the Yellowjackets to a .096 hitting percentage for the match. The Wildcats forced 23 attack errors from the Yellowjackets, 10 more than the Wildcats had.