Oct. 7, 2010
Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Middle blocker Emily Jepsen (Jr., Kennewick/Kamiakin) had a match-high 14 kills on .684 attack efficiency and six service aces as Western Washington University rolled to a 25-10, 25-20, 25-15, victory over Montana State University Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Thursday night at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.
The Vikings, ranked No.17 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, improved to 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the GNAC. The triumph sets up a battle for the top spot in the GNAC standings with No.12-ranked and unbeaten Seattle Pacific (16-0, 8-0) on Saturday (7 p.m.) at Carver Gym.
MSUB fell to 2-15 overall and 2-6 in the GNAC. Jennifer Boe led the Yellowjackets with 12 kills and a match-high 13 digs.
Western utterly dominated the first set, holding MSUB to just three kills. The Vikings jumped to a 12-3 lead in the frame, with setter Kari Rice (Sr., Toppenish/Eisenhower) capping the run with a pair of service aces.
The second set was somewhat tighter, as the Yellowjackets held an early 3-1 lead and never trailed by more than six points.
In the final set, the Vikings used a run of eight straight points to take an 11-3 lead. Jepsen had five points of the run on service aces, and Western was never threatened after that.
Megan Amundson (Sr., Stanwood) had eight kills and a team-high nine digs for the Vikings, who have won all 10 series meetings with MSUB.
Western is 206-77 (.729) at Carver Gym in 37 seasons in that facility and 3-0 this year. The Vikings are 91-11 (.898) at home since going to a Sport Court surface in 2000, four of those setbacks coming last season.
