NAMPA, Idaho – For Northwest Nazarene junior Kaitlin Tuholski, Thursday night provided a welcome challenge.

The Crusaders outside hitter, who shared setting duties with teammate Michelle Terpstra when both were freshmen, was thrust into that role once again when an injury sidelined Terpstra.

Tuholski rose to the occasion, dishing out 48 assists for NNU (9-4 overall, 5-2 GNAC) as the Crusaders cruised to a 25-14, 25-19, 27-29, 25-16 win over visiting Montana State Billings in Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball at the Johnson Sports Center.

"It was nice, just going back to freshman year, all the memories coming back," said Tuholski, who added six digs, four kills and two blocks in the win. "I missed it, so it was just nice stepping in, especially with Michelle being out, stepping in and the team not being at a deficit."

Three different NNU players had double-digit kills with Tuholski dishing out the ball, as Elayna Rice had 18, Taylor VanValey pounded down 15 and Andrea Terpstra finished with 10 kills

"I thought without our starting setter, because of an injury, I thought we had a lot of girls that stepped up and made a major contribution," NNU coach Doug English said, pleased with Tuholski's performance and the play of Ali Abergo, who had five kills, and Taylor Gould, who added eight digs.

"And the people that have been playing did above-average jobs, so it helped keep us stable and made it easy for us," English added of the likes of Andrea Terpstra, VanValey and Rice.

The only bump in the road came in the third set, as the Yellowjackets (3-11, 1-5) built a 21-16 lead on a Monica Grimsrud kill, and eventually had four match points that the Crusaders staved off.

But a block by Grimsrud, who led MSU Billings with 15 kills, snapped a 27-27 tie and allowed the Yellowjackets to grab the set win and avoid the sweep.

NNU cruised in the fourth set, going up 10-4 on a Rice kill, and leading 20-16, the Crusaders rattled off the final five points of the night to complete the win.

A momentum-building win for the Crusaders, who battle Seattle Pacific for third place in the GNAC on Saturday night. The match against the Falcons begins at 7 p.m.

"It's great to have this kind of match and play as clean of volleyball as we did," English said. "They were extra focused because they knew things were out of order and out of place.

"I hope they keep that same focus on Saturday night."