BILLINGS, Mont. – Despite outhitting the Yellowjackets 58 kills to 49, and more efficiently, .204 hitting percentage to .185, the Saints' struggles to serve continue to affect them, as MSU Billings downs the Saints in four sets.
 
The Yellowjackets claimed the season series in Billings, winning the first set 25-22, before SMU rallied in the second set 25-19, but finishing off with a 25-22, and 25-19 set victories. Attacking and serving errors played a critical part earlier this week, and carried over on the road, as Saint Martin's finished with 25 attacking errors and nine serving errors.
 
The Saints held an early 9-6 lead on a kill by Ililani Kamaka, and carried that lead until the 16-16 point. The Yellowjackets used a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the set and never looked back. The Saints managed to trim the score to two twice but were never able to tie up the set.
 
MSU Billings carried their momentum over in the second set, taking a 6-2 lead before the Saints responded with a 5-1 run to take a 11-9 lead. Kills by Rachel Gondrezick and Molly Cichosz, along with late kills by Megan Vernoy powered the Saints all the way to tie the match with a 25-19 set win.
 
Montana State Billing never trailed after the 2-2 point in the third set, despite the Saints making multiple runs and closing the gap to as little as two. Cichosz and Vernoy continued to lift up the Saints' offense down the stretch; however, the slow start proved to be fatal in the set.
 
The Saints trailed early once again but slowly started chipping away the lead, and with another 5-1 run, closed the score to 16-14. However, the same theme proved true in the fourth and final set, as the Saints' offense was unable to recover from the slow start and the Yellowjackets held on for the victory.
 
"Tonight we played better," said head coach Jon Killingbeck. "Offensively and defensively, we have started to come along but we have to cut down on the unforced errors."
 
For the fifth straight match, Vernoy recorded double-digit kills, ending with 17, and marked a plus .300 hiting percentage for the third time in the last five. Gondrezick put together 15 kills and 17 digs, both second most on the team for the night, while Cichosz and Kamaka combined for 19 kills and two aces. Alyssa Bartlett and Hannah McKee combined for 49 of the Saints' 55 assists, while Courtney Misner led SMU with 21 digs.
 
The Saints return home to Marcus Pavilion for their next two matches, hosting Northwest Nazarene first on Thursday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available of the match on smusaints.com.