Skylight spikers set for a rigorous schedule

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team had a magical 2012 season. The season culminated with a second-place finish in the Frontier Conference tournament last November, and possibly being part of one of the best championship matches ever played in the Frontier’s history.

And while it seems like that match against Carroll College wasn’t all that long ago, a new season for the Skylights is just around the corner.

And MSU-N will start its season with a tough stretch of non-conference matches, which will keep the Skylights busy through August and much of September.

Northern’s 2013 schedule includes two preseason tournaments in Great Falls, as well as huge trips to Spokane, Wash., and Daytona Beach, Fla. MSU-N opens the season Aug. 16 against Midlands University of Nebraska in Great Falls, then will play six matches against the Cascade Conference at the Cascade/Frontier Challenge in Spokane. The Skylights then close out the month of August with four matches at a tournament in Daytona Beach, then wrap up their challenging non-conference schedule with a pair of matches at the UGF/Carroll Tournament in Great Falls.

And though the Skylights have a daunting preseason schedule, that’s been what fifth-year head coach Bill Huebsch likes to do, in order to prepare his squad for the rigors of the Frontier season.

MSU-N opens the Frontier schedule Sept. 13 at home and it should be a special night, because the Skylights will face Carroll in a rematch of last year’s championship match. Northern is also home to end the month of September, taking on UM-Western and Westminster College Sept. 26 and 28.

The month of October will be a grind for the Skylights as they have eight total matches and five on the road. MSU-N plays back-to-back rivalry matches against UGF Oct. 10 in Havre and Oct. 17 in Great Falls, then back-to-back affairs with league stalwart Lewis-Clark State. They also end the month on the road with a Halloween match at Western and a trip to Westminster Nov. 2. A week later, the Skylights finish the regular season with home matches against Dickinson State Nov. 7 and Rocky Mountain College Nov. 8.

And the postseason will be close to home too. The Skylights will be a part of the Frontier Tournament, which will be held Nov. 14-16 in Great Falls.

Huebsch will also begin the new volleyball season by running three consecutive youth camps. The Skylight Team Camp runs Friday and Saturday at the Armory Gymnasium, followed by the Skylight Volleyball Summer Kids Camp July 22-24. The Skylight High School Volleyball Camp will run July 29-31 and the Skylights themselves will open training camp that weekend.