BILLINGS, Mont. (September 2, 2023) – Lubbock Christian University aims to continue their solid start to the season Saturday, as they continue and close play in the Yellowjacket Invitational facing Minot State (3 p.m. CT) and host Montana State Billings (7 p.m. CT) inside Alterowitz Gymnasium.
 
 

YELLOWJACKET INVITATIONAL
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
Minot St.	Billings, Mont.	Sat, Sept. 2	3 p.m.	Video	Stats
MSU Billings	Billings, Mont.	Sat, Sept. 2	7 p.m.	Video	Stats

 
LOOKING AT MINOT STATE
- The Beavers, from Minot, N.D., and Lady Chaps have no prior history. LCU had only faced one North Dakota based program all-time prior to this tournament, and the meeting will mark consecutive games against programs from the Flickertail State.   

- MSU was preseason picked 15th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). They went 1-26 overall last season, posting a 1-19 in conference. Minot heads into Saturday aiming to end a 14-match losing streak in neutral site play, as their last neutral site win came against Midwestern State on Sept. 1, 2018 in Kearney, Neb. They are 0-2 on the season after falling to Southeastern Oklahoma State (3-1) and MSU Billings (3-2). They play Black Hills State Saturday morning before wrapping up their Billings stay facing LCU. 

- Maggie Machado is listed as a NCIS Player to Watch this season for the Beavers. The outside hitter played last season at New Mexico Junior College, where she was teammates with LCU's Lacie Schooley. Schooley was Machado's primary setter and was a contributor to Machado averaging 2.97 kills per set and the two helped the Thunderbirds make the program's debut into the NJCAA National Rankings. MSU head coach Alex Lehocky was previously at NMJC and served as Schooley's head coach her freshman season in Hobbs, N.M.

- Milena Cernjanski is also a NMJC transfer. She posted 685 digs in two seasons and is NMJC's single-match record holder in digs with 38 (Oct. 8, 2022).

- Kendal Braun has seven aces through two matches on the season. All seven were registered against SEOSU.
 
LOOKING AT MSU BILLINGS
- Montana State Billings and LCU will conclude play of the tournament Saturday facing each other for the first time (all-time). It will mark LCU's first meeting against a Montana based program since a 3-1 loss to Providence (formerly Great Falls) in Las Vegas, Nev. on Sept. 1, 2012. LCU played four matches in Vegas and all were against Montana based programs (including a 3-1 win over Billings based No.7 Rocky Mountain College, which was the last time LCU defeated a nationally ranked opponent at a neutral site event), which has LCU heading to Billings 5-2 all-time against teams from Montana.   

- MSUB was preseason picked 10th in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). They went 7-20 overall last season, going 0-18 in conference play. The Yellowjackets closed the 2022 season losing their final 13 matches.   

- The 'Jackets are seeking to rally this season without setter Hannah Hashbarger and outside hitter Caty Havekost (Honorable Mention All-Conference last season) and they have added four incoming freshmen this season. Returning is Honorable Mention All-Conference middle blocker Paiten Langston, who ranked 10^th (in the GNAC) in hitting percentage at .273.

- Casey Bonner is heading into her eighth season as head coach of the Yellowjackets. She previously coached two seasons at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas.

- This is the third consecutive season MSUB has hosted the Yellowjacket Invitational. They won all four matches last season at the event and registered a 7-1 in the prior two seasons as host. They are 1-1 this season, splitting Friday's action with a 3-1 loss to Mary and rebounding with a 3-2 win over Minot State.
 
LADY CHAP NOTES
- LCU went 2-0 Friday with wins over Black Hills State (3-1) and Mary (3-0). The start is LCU's best start under third-year (with LCU) head coach Keith Giboney and the best start since 2020. If LCU can keep the streak intact, it would mark LCU's first 3-0 (and/or 4-0 start if they win both of Saturday's matches) start since a 5-0 start since 2014.  

- The Lady Chaps roster continues this season with a lot of youth. Fielding a roster of 16 student-athletes, LCU adds nine new additions this season, with seven true freshmen and a pair of junior college transfers. The seven freshmen are LCU's highest crop of first-year collegians since the 2014 roster featured nine freshmen. The 2014 squad was part of LCU's final year of transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II (second year in Heartland Conference and they were not eligible for postseason), and they posted an 18-5 record (13-3 in conference to finish second). Freshman Channing Stewart (then Channing Castleberry) claimed Heartland Conference Freshman of the Year honors and was one of four Lady Chaparrals claiming All-Conference honors (joined Amy Edwards, Erin Fisher and Maddie Johnson). Friday, Ramsey Clark, Madyson Eberly, Mikalie Floyd, Macie Morgan, Jaeidyn Rankin and Lacie Schooley each made their LCU debut.

- Kiana Fallaha (27) and Payton Murray (22) combined for over 20 kills in the two Lady Chaps matches Friday. Fallaha registered her first career double-double (against Black Hills State) with a career-high 12 digs and a career-matching 18 kills. Murray was the only Lady Chaps member to record at least 10 kills in each match and she matched a career high in each set with 11 kills. The sophomore produced an attack percentage of .354, which is second on the squad behind a mark of .394 by Kalli Dalland, who registered 10 kills against Mary for her second double-figure kill performance of the senior's career.

- Never appearing as a libero at any point of her career, prior to Friday, Chloe Menard started each match at libero and has posted 38 digs in two matches for a pace of 5.43 per set. The senior posted a career-high 22 digs against Black Hills State.

- With the win over BHSU Friday morning, LCU improved to 29-16 all-time in season openers and they have won 11 of their 16 prior season openers (LCU fell 3-0 in Anchorage, Alaska to Alaska Anchorage in last season's opener). LCU claimed their first season-opening win since 2020 (over Wayland Baptist on Jan. 19, 2021, as COVID pushed the 2020 season to a Spring 2021 playing season).