Box score (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Just when the Seattle Pacific Falcons thought they had grabbed the momentum, Montana State Billings grabbed it right back.
 
And kept it the rest of the night.
 
Gabby Oddo had a season-high 22 kills on Thursday night, but Billings jumped to an early lead in the fourth game and never relinquished it, going on to beat SPU in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match in Brougham Pavilion, 3-1.
 
Scores were 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19.
 
On Senior Night, senior outside hitter Oddo made it a double-double by adding 12 digs, and she hit a solid .353 with just four errors on 51 attacks. Senior outside hitter Maddie Batiste added 14 kills.
 
"We didn't match their energy very well. We were playing a little bit uptight," SPU head coach Abbie Wright said. "We had a lot of thoughts going through our heads, and we weren't able to process information very fast. With MSUB's fast offense, we got a little behind, and it was hard to catch up."
 
The Falcons (12-14, 9-9 GNAC) raced to a 7-4 lead in the opening game, only to see Billings (8-19, 5-12 GNAC) go on a 9-2 run take the lead. Seattle Pacific did eventually climb into a 21-21 tie, then the Yellowjackets put the next three points on the board.
 
MSUB used a 5-0 surge in Game 2, turning a 13-10 deficit into a 15-13 lead. Again, the Falcons pulled even, this time at 23-23. But again, the Jackets had the final say, with back-to-back kills by Skylar Reed giving them a two-game advantage.
 
SPU ran off the first five points of Game 3 and stayed in front most of the way until Billings edged ahead, 21-20. But the Falcons closed it out with five points in a row, with three kills by Oddo, one by Batiste, and a Yellowjackets net violation, to bring on Game 4.
 
MSUB went up 6-1 right away. It subsequently snapped an 11-11 tie with four straight points, and Seattle Pacific never came closer than three.
 
"It was just tough to get that momentum back – whoever got the first run out of the game pulled away," Wright said. "I thought Billings passed well, they went out and hit hard, and they defended well – really scrappy.
 
"It was just kind of a bummer that it didn't swing our way tonight."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons hit .186 for the night (57 kills-24 errors-140 attacks). Gabby Oddo's .353 (22-4-51) was her second straight match in the .300s (she hit .311 in Thursday's four-game win against Saint Martin's). It was second-highest mark of the fall, exceeded only by the .364 she hit against Western Oregon on Oct. 5.
-- Oddo's double-double was her third in a row, 16^th of the season, and 52^nd of her career.
--With 41 assists, freshman setter Lindsey Lambert moved past 800 for her career, She now has 805.
-- Senior libero Mallie Donohoe led Seattle Pacific with 13 digs.
-- The Falcons and Yellowjackets split the season series, each winning in four games on the other's home court.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons (12-14, 9-9 GNAC) wrap up the season next week in Alaska, visiting Fairbanks on Thursday and Anchorage on Saturday, both at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time. The Nanooks and Seawolves both scored three-game sweeps in Seattle on the first weekend of conference play in September.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Montana State Billings 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19.
 
Service aces – MSUB 9 (3 players with 2), SPU 5 (Oddo 3).
Kills – MSUB 57 (Reed 14), SPU 50 (Oddo 22, Batiste 14).
Assists – MSUB 55 (Hashbarger 48), SPU 48 (Lambert 41).
Digs – MSUB 59 (Logozzo 19), SPU 52 (Donohoe 13, Oddo 12).
Block assists / solo – MSUB 12 / 5 solo (Hayden 4 / 2 solo), SPU 10 / 0 solo (Gould 3 / 0 solo, Lambert 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – MSUB 57-21-143—252 (Mahowald 17-3-26—538), SPU 50-24-140—186 (Oddo 22-4-51—353).
Attendance – 128.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 12-14, 9-9 GNAC.  Montana State Billings 8-19, 5-12 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Thursday, Nov. 21     8:00 p.m. PDT
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska