NAMPA, Idaho- The Northwest Nazarene women's volleyball team opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Thursday night with a 30-26, 30-21, 22-30, 30-23 win over Montana State University Billings in front of 517 raucous fans at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus.

Leading the way for the Crusaders was 2006 GNAC Freshman of the Year Cammy Dranginis with 17 kills, hitting .432 for the night. NNU had four ladies in double digits in kills as Lindsay Forseth recorded 11, Chelsea Pelton had 11 and Loni Evenson brought in 10.

"Having four people in double digits is great for me. I think if we can keep spreading it out like that, we're doing well," commented head coach Jared Sliger on his team's performance.

NNU's efficiency was a big factor as they recorded only four service errors to the Yellow Jackets 12 and 17 attack errors to 28 for the 'Jackets.

The Crusaders had a great night at the net, out-blockeding MSUB 14 to 4. "Having that kind of presence at the net makes things much simpler for everybody else," added Sliger.

Leading the defense for NNU was Evenson with a game-high 20.

Pacing the Yellowjackets was last week's GNAC Player of the Week Alicia Cazemier with a game high 19 kills. Also in double digits for Montana State Billings was Devon Crotteau with 17 and Jennifer Boe with 13.

With the win the Crusaders improve to 7-2 on the season and MSUB falls to 6-3 overall.

The Crusaders will now face Seattle University on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.