Skylights ready to aim even higher

The 2012 season the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team completed last November could be summed up in many ways. But putting it simply, it was a magical ride.

However, after coming within a mere two points of beating Carroll College for the Frontier championship, after finishing the regular season with 18 wins and a 10-6 record in the Frontier Conference, and after completing the winningest season Northern has had in almost a decade, the Skylights weren’t — and aren’t — satisfied.

No, the 2013 Skylights, who open their season Friday in Great Falls, want much more than what they got a year ago.

And though Northern returns one of the most talented lineups in the Frontier, the motivation moving forward falls squarely on what happened to MSU-N in last November’s Frontier title bout with the Fighting Saints.

“It’s an exciting time, I’m excited and they (Skylights) are excited,” MSU-N fifth-year head coach Bill Huebsch said. “We have a really talented group of veteran players back, and each of them have really improved in their own way. They know this team has a lot of potential. The goal is to be very good again this season.

“But on the other side of that,” he added, “I think this team is already practicing and playing with a chip on their shoulder. They use that loss to Carroll in the championship match as motivation every day. It comes up every day in practice. I think this group feels like they have some unfinished business, and it’s led to these girls working really hard and already playing at a real high level.

And the Skylights should be playing well, considering they lost just two seniors from last year’s remarkable squad. Gone is two-time All-Conference hitter Hillary Isleifson, as well as middle blocker Victoria Polo. But a core group of very talented Skylights return, including First-Team All-Conference standout Abby Nicholas. Nicholas (6-0), played mostly in the middle last season and racked up 379 kills, 69 blocks and 45 service aces in a breakout campaign. She’ll slide over to the right side this season, and fill the void left by the hard-hitting Isleifson.

Also back for Northern is outside hitter Kelsey Williams (5-10), who will start for the third straight season. Williams totaled 286 kills during a strong junior season. Two of Northern’s floor generals return as well. On the defensive side of the ball, senior Holly Cartwright will start for the third straight season at libero, while senior setter Joni Nagy is back for her second season at MSU-N. Cartwright racked up 552 digs a year ago, and made a strong case for the libero of the year award, while Nagy totaled 883 assists last season to along with 161 kills. In the middle Haley Russell (5-11) returns after earning 59 blocks a year ago.

Junior hitter Dayna Jensen (5-9) returns and will figure into a much more prominent role with Northern’s offense this season. In limited action in 2012, Jensen totaled 89 kills, and did an especially good job filling in when Isleifson and Williams were sidelined with injuries at different times.

“It’s a very talented group of returners,” Huebsch said. “This is as strong a senior class as we’ve had here in a long time. It’s hard to single out any one particular player in that group because they all do so many important things for this team.

“But what I will say is, they’ve all come back improved,” he added. “They’ve all done the right things to get better. They’ve all worked really hard in the offseason and they have come back really ready to go. I’m really impressed with that. And they all bring strong leadership qualities to this team, and we have a group of younger players who really get to see this group in action every day. They get to see what these girls do every day, and what it takes to get the job done, and how we want things done in this program. So that’s a really nice advantage to having such a strong and talented group like the returning kids we have.”

And the young group behind the stars is what gives Northern perhaps the most depth in the Frontier Conference this season. A late addition to the recruiting class, 6-3 freshman Alexis Nelson could see time in the middle right away. Fellow freshman Erin Jensen (5-8), the younger sister of Dayna, could also play an important back-up role as a middle blocker, and Huebsch said she has come into training camp much-improved. After a red-shirt season, setter Janell Hoff will be the backup setter this season, while freshman Cydney Auzenne (5-10) will compete for playing time as an outside hitter, and freshman defensive specialist Sydney Stolearcius will back up Cartwright for a year.

“Our younger girls have come in and really shown us something right away,” Huebsch said. “They have come in and improved a lot. Erin Jensen is one to watch because she is doing a great job in the middle. She’s only 5-8, but she really gets up there and blocks. Our depth is really good. We have 14 kids on the roster, and we feel like we have good depth at every position on the floor.”

The development of the younger players will be key as graduation will hit Northern hard next spring. But for now, the Skylights are primed for a big run in 2013, and Huebsch feels like he’ll have a balanced attack on both sides of the net.

“It’s hard to single out one particular strength of this team,” Huebsch said. “With the offense we’re running and the talent we have, I feel like we’re going to be very hard to stop and very dynamic offensively. When our serve-receive is going right, when we get in system, I feel like we are going to be a handful offensively.

“And on the other side of that, defensively, we should be very strong,” he added. “We’re bigger at the net than we were a year ago, we’ve got a senior leader in the back row and the girls behind the front row are flying around and digging up everything that gets to them. So the balance we have, and the pieces we have in place, we feel like we can be a pretty good team all the way around.”

Of course, with talent, and on the heels of one of the best season’s in recent MSU-N history, comes expectations and pressure. The Skylights have their sights set on competing for a Frontier title this season, but Huebsch doesn’t want his team looking too far ahead.

Northern’s August schedule includes Friday’s match against Midland University of Nebraska, as well as the Cascade/Frontier Challenge in Spokane where Eastern Oregon awaits. MSU-N will face at least two Top 25 squads on a trip to Florida at the end of the month, and the non-conference season ends with games against NCAA DII opponents University of Mary and Minot State, Sept. 7 in Great Falls.

And all of that is just a build-up to the Skylights’ home opener against the vaunted Saints, Sept. 13 at the Armory Gymnasium.

“You have to keep things in perspective,” Huebsch said. “Our kids know we have a chance to be good, and they know we have a chance to compete every night in our league. We proved that last year. But our non-conference schedule is really tough, and it’s tough right out of the gates. We’re going to be tested a lot in the month of August, so we can’t be looking ahead. These kids also know we can’t take a night off. That if we want to get to where we are hoping to be, we have to continue to work really hard each day in practice, and we have to be at our best every single night, in every single match, no matter the opponent.

“We have high expectations, I expect a lot from this team,” he continued. “These kids have set a lot of goals and they're capable of achieving all of them. We just have to keep working hard and keep improving and not rest on what we’ve already done. And I don’t think this group will do that. They’re motivated. They are working hard and practices, even two-a-days have been really good and really intense. So I’m just really excited to see what the season holds for us.”

The Skylights open their 2013 season Friday in Great Falls. Tonight, Northern will hold an intra-squad scrimmage at 6 at the Armory Gymnasium. Fans wishing to attend are asked to donate one can of food.