Skylights swept at UGF

Sometimes, revenge can be a painful thing. That was the case for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team.

The Skylights were on the receiving end of a revenge match as they lost to the UGF Argos in three games Friday night at the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls. UGF won by scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-20, avenging Northern's five-set win last month in Havre.

"I thought we served and passed well enough to stay in the match, but we didn't hit the ball well at all Friday night," MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch said. "That was reflected in our statistics in how many players took swings and us not scoring. Against Great Falls, a very good team, when you have an opportunity to score you have to do that, and we certainly did not do that."

Games were close and the Skylights did have chances, but like Huebsch said, MSU-N didn't put points away well enough in crucial times. UGF had 44 kills to Northern's 22 and the Argos also totaled 10 blocks.

"I thought we had chances to win some of those sets, but we just couldn't put the ball away," Huebsch said. "That is a credit to their defense, they played very well, but I thought we had our chances. It was 21-21 in the first and we got outscored 4-0 to finish the set. Then we were up 23-22 in the second set and we got outscored 3-0 to end that set. We were definitely in position to win those two sets, but we just couldn't put the ball away."

Sierra Diehl paced the Skylights with six kills while Kelsey Williams had 13 digs. As a team, Northern totaled seven blocks. Taylor Lucero had a match-high 14 kills for the Argos.

With the loss, Northern dropped to 5-5 in Frontier Conference play and 13-9 overall. Northern is tied with Westminster for fourth in the Frontier heading into the final two home matches of the season. The Skylights host Westminster on Friday night and Lewis-Clark State on Saturday afternoon.

Great Falls def. MSU-Northern

25-21, 25-23, 25-20

MSU-N — Kills 22 (Sierra Diehl 6, Assists 18 (Nahe Keanaaina 11), Aces 2, Digs 42 (Kelsey Williams 13, Holly Cartwrgith 10), Blocks 7.

UGF — Kills 44 (Taylor Lucero 14, Maggie McCall 8), Assists 38 (Averi Pasma 18, Kia Adams 17), Aces 6 (Adams 3), Digs 52 (Kyah Piva 19), Blocks 10.