Skylights rise one spot

After two of the most dramatic wins of the season, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team inched its way up a spot in the national rankings.

In the most recent NAIA Coaches Poll, released on Tuesday afternoon, the Skylights jumped one spot to No. 24. Northern is coming off two five-set wins at home. Last Friday night, the Skylights made it a season sweep of rival Lewis-Clark State by winning in five sets in the Armory Gymnasium. Northern led LCSC 2-0, but had to win 15-9 in the fifth set to prevail.

On Saturday, a tired and emotionally drained MSU-N squad survived a scare from Montana Tech. MSU-N had to fight from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1, winning the decisive fifth set 15-10. The two wins improved MSU-N to 12-0 in the conference and 21-4 overall. Northern has already achieved its winningest season in over a decade. Last year, the Skylights won a total of 18 matches.

Northern is still the only Frontier team to be nationally-ranked. Rocky Mountain College received 48 votes in this week's poll, while LCSC garnered six votes.

The Skylights play their final two road matches of the season this weekend. Northern travels to UM-Western Thursday night, then visits Westminster College Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City.

NAIA Coaches Poll

Rnk. Prv. Rec. Pts.

1 1 Texas at Brownsville 25-0 653

2 2 Concordia (Calif.) 18-1 632

3 3 Biola (Calif.) 17-2 611

4 4 Madonna (Mich.) 33-0 590

5 5 Northwestern (Iowa) 29-1 569

6 7 Midland (Neb.) 29-2 546

7 8 Oklahoma Baptist 26-4 512

8 6 MidAmerica Nazarene 21-2 502

9 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 30-2 498

10 12 Eastern Oregon 23-3 442

11 11 The Master's (Calif.) 16-5 439

12 15 Vanguard (Calif.) 17-5 394

13 14 Park (Mo.) 28-4 383

14 16 Westmont (Calif.) 18-5 343

15 22 Columbia (Mo.) 19-9 336

16 13 Bellevue (Neb.) 27-7 327

17 17 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 25-5 324

18 18 Dordt (Iowa) 19-5 318

19 10 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 14-9 279

20 RV Georgetown (Ky.) 26-8 276

21 21 Cornerstone (Mich.) 24-9 256

22 23 Davenport (Mich.) 26-9 211

23 19 Grand View (Iowa) 25-13 209

24 25 Montana State-Northern 21-4 156

25 RV Missouri Baptist 25-5 84

Others Receiving Votes: College of Idaho 82; Hastings (Neb.) 71; Viterbo (Wis.) 71; Spring Hill (Ala.) 68; Cal State San Marcos 63; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 48; Concordia (Ore.) 38; Evangel (Mo.) 28; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 25; Bryan (Tenn.) 23; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 6; Campbellsville (Ky.) 5.