ELLENSBURG, Wash. – During their last match of the 2015 season, the MSUB volleyball team gave it their all, but the Yellowjackets were up against a strong program finishing out the year with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-23) loss to Central Washington on the road in conference action Saturday.
 
MSU Billings (6-23, 5-15) kept chipping away at the Wildcats, eventually drawing to within a point at the end of the third set, but Central Washington (20-7, 16-4 GNAC) was not to be denied on its Senior Night, completing the match in straight sets.
 
"I thought our two seniors played very well tonight," MSUB head coach Lisa Axel said. "They have given so much to this program. Audri was only here for one semester but has had a huge impact on this team. Kyndal has grown so much as a player and a person in her four years here and has left her mark in the record books and in so many other ways that cannot be measured."
 
Junior Ashlynn Ward finished the match with eight kills, Miranda McConnell had seven, and Audri Marrs added six for the MSUB offense.
 
Senior setter Kyndal Williams ended her final match in a Yellowjacket uniform with an assists-digs double-double of 22 and 11. Williams was just one back of libero Kimmy Kirk who ended the night with 12 digs.
 
Marrs led the team in blocks with two.
 
MSUB was held to a .071 attack percentage. CWU finished at .276 with seven blocks at the net and a 43-28 advantage in kills.
 
Jordan Deming led the Wildcats with nine kills. Linden Firethorne had six kills, two aces and two blocks. Kaitlin Quirk finished with six blocks for the Wildcats. Catie Fry had 33 assists. Lindsey Milner completed a match-high 16 digs.
 
CWU broke open the first set with a kill from Firethorne off an assist from Fry, sparking a 5-point run for a 17-12 lead. The Yellowjackets had a brief respite after a service error, but the Wildcats came back rattling off eight straight points to take the first set 25-13.
 
Mataia Roderick provided a service ace for MSUB and an error from CWU tied the second frame at seven. Five points from CWU pushed the score to a 12-7 advantage. The teams traded points until MSUB picked up kills from Ward and McConnell to draw the deficit down to three, 16-13.
 
From there, Central Washington fired off seven points ending with a block from Fry and Quirk for 23-13.
 
The Yellowjackets earned three points, including a block from Marrs and Taylor Albertson, but CWU remained in control ending the set with two more points for 25-17 and a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set proved to be the most competitive. MSU Billings opened the final frame with a 4-1 lead. The Wildcats rebounded with five points, but a service error sent the ball back to the 'Jackets.
 
MSUB again took the lead with a big block from Stormy Siemion and Marrs at 8-7.
 
A kill from CWU's Erin Little the knotted the score at 11. Williams tied the set again with a kill off an assist from Siemion.
 
CWU drew ahead by five, 20-15, but the 'Jackets mounted a determined effort to stay in the set. A block from McConnell and Ward put MSUB one point back at 23-22. The Wildcats' Ashlynn Mann pounded a kill for a set point. A kill from Ward kept the match alive for the Yellowjackets, but a final block from Firethorne and Quirk ended the set and match.
 
THE BUZZ: This was the final match for seniors Kyndal Williams and Audri Marrs. Williams was a four-year starter at the setter position for MSUB playing in every single set in every single match since she donned the Yellowjacket uniform. Marrs joined the Yellowjacket program this year as a transfer from Metro State University, but made an immediate impact as a middle blocker for MSU Billings.