Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. - The No. 19 Western Washington University volleyball team returned to its winning ways with a three-game sweep of Montana State Billings (25-15, 25-16, 25-15) Saturday evening in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at Alterowitz Gym.

The Vikings evened their season record at 5-5 and GNAC record at 1-1 with the convincing victory. WWU is now 21-1 all-time vs. MSUB. The Yellowjackets drop to 1-10 on the season and 0-2 in GNAC play.

Western controlled the match from the start hitting .315 for the match (48 kills, 14 errors, 108 attacks).

Sophomore middle blockers Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) and Michael Hall (Centralia, WA) led a balanced offensive attack. Harper recorded a match-high 14 kills on a .571 hitting percentage (14-2-21) and Hall tallied 9 kills on a .500 percentage (9-2-14).

"We played a really balanced match today and did a good job of controlling the ball and that opened up a lot of options," said 17th-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "We passed the ball very well, controlled our serve-receive, and our middles did a great job. I thought the team really played free tonight and I appreciated their energy and the results came from that."

WWU's balanced offensive attack also received 7 kills from Abby Phelps (So., OH, Manson, WA/Chelan), and 6 kills each from Arielle Turner (Jr., Leavenworth, WA/Cascade), Kazlyn Roullier (RS Fr., OH, Spokane Valley, WA/Central Valley) and Joellee Buckner (Jr., OPP, Colville, WA).

Redshirt freshman Mae Thungc (Kent, WA/Kentridge) led all players with 12 digs in her second collegiate match. Buckner (11) and Phelps (10) also recorded double-figures in digs.

The Yellowjackets were led by 9 kills and 10 digs by Strormy Siemion.

WWU continues GNAC play and will host its first home matches of the season this week against Alaska Anchorage (Thursday, 7 pm) and Alaska (Saturday, 7 pm). The Vikings will play all 10 home matches this season at Whatcom Community College while the two-year renovation of Carver Gym is completed.