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Nov. 9, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A season of learning experiences for a young Western Washington University volleyball team comes to a close as the Vikings play host to Montana State University Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match Saturday (7 p.m.) on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium that could determine third place in the league standings.

Western, which does not have a senior on its active roster, is 16-10 overall and currently fourth in the GNAC at 9-6. Last week, the Vikings split a pair of league road matches, winning 3-1 against Northwest Nazarene and losing 3-2 versus arch-rival Central Washington.

MSUB, which is at Central Washington on Thursday, also is 16-10 overall and holds down third place in the GNAC at 9-5. The Yellowjackets are on a season-best five-match winning streak, one of them a 3-1 victory over second-place Seattle Pacific, which swept its two-match season series with Western.

The Vikings, who have dropped three of their last four matches, swept MSUB on Oct. 17 at Billings. They have not lost to the Yellowjackets in eight series meetings.

Western middle blocker Emily Jepsen (So., Kennewick/Kamiakin) ranks second among league leaders in blocks at 1.12 as does setter Laurie Yearout (R-Fr., Spokane/Lewis & Clark) in assists at 10.49. Libero Allison Gotz (Jr., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy) is fourth in digs at 5.22 and outside hitter Marlayna Geary (Fr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) is fourth in kills at 3.88 and fifth in points at 4.11.

In last week's NCAA II national statistics, Geary and Gotz ranked No.23 in kills and digs, respectively. Yearout was No.28 in assists and Jepsen No.30 in blocks. Geary had double-doubles in kills and digs in both matches last week, bringing her season total to 12.

Jepsen and Mertens each had career highs of 10 and nine blocks, respectively, against Central.

MSUB is led by outside hitter Devon Crotteau, who ranks fifth nationally in kills at 4.45. She leads the GNAC in both kills and points (5.05).

Notes: The Vikings are 134-21 all-time in GNAC matches, a winning percentage of .865 ... Three of Western's nine losses this season have been to American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25-rated teams ... The Vikings have won four GNAC titles (2001-03, 2007) since the league began in 2001 and placed second last season ... Gotz, who received AVCA All-American honorable mention in 2008, and Geary were all-tourney picks at both the Southern California Classic and Central Washington Invitational to open the season ... Jepsen was the GNAC Player of the Week for Oct. 11-17 ... Western fell out of the AVCA Top 25 Poll after being listed in the preseason (23rd) ranking and the first two regular-season ratings (21st and 24th) ... The Vikings did not earn a berth in the national playoffs last year despite a 21-3 record after being the national runner-up in 2007 ... Diane Flick has a career record of 212-60, her .779 winning percentage ranking eighth among NCAA II active coaches ... Western is 6-4 on Haggen Court at Carver Gym this season where the Vikings have lost just 11 of 98 matches during Flick's 10 seasons as coach.