Skylights improve against NAIA powers

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team wanted some stern challenges in the nonconference portion of the 2014 season. So far, mission accomplished.

This past weekend, the Skylights took on four nationally-ranked NAIA opponents at the Bellevue College Tournament in Bellevue, Nebraska. And though MSU-N didn't come away with any wins on the weekend, the Skylights would be hard-pressed to find a more loaded tournament to play in.

"It was everything we expected it to be," MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch said. "The level of competition was outstanding down there. There were 20 teams, and 12 of them were either in the Top 25, or receiving votes in the poll, which puts them in the top 30. And we played four of them. We knew going in that the level of competition was going to be very good. And that's what we wanted. We wanted these kids to experience that kind of competition, hopefully it will toughen them up and get them ready for what they'll face in the Frontier Conference."

Northern opened the weekend with a four-set loss to No. 13 Dordt College of Iowa. The Skylights took the first set of the match, 25-18, but lost three straight, by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21. Dayna Jensen paced MSU-N with 13 kills, nine digs and three aces. Erin Jensen added nine kills, while Sydney Stolearcius had 16 digs.

If Dordt wasn't a difficult enough opener for the Skylights, then No. 7 Midland was even better Friday night. Midland beat MSU-N by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-19. The Skylights couldn't get much going against Midland offensively, totaling just 26 kills, with Dayna and Erin Jensen each getting seven. But defensively, it was also a struggle for MSU-N, as it had no blocks on the night.

"I wasn't at all disappointed this weekend," Huebsch said. "I thought we competed really well, and at times, we played really well. I thought we served tough and at a very high percentage, and our passing was really good all weekend. We just didn't defend well enough, and at this level, against these teams, you have to defend. And we didn't hit the ball as well as we're capable of. We also made some youthful mistakes, at some critical points in matches, and those hurt us. But those are all things that we can work on, those are things we can clean up and get better at. So again, I'm not disappointed, because even though we didn't win any of these matches, I thought we were very competitive and we can take a lot away from this experience."

The competition continued to be tough for the young MSU-N squad Saturday. Northern took on No. 5 Northwestern of Iowa in the morning, and played well through four sets. But the Skylights still fell by scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-14 and 25-19. MSU-N seemed to gain momentum in the second set, but Northwestern took it right back in the next two. Dayna Jensen had a strong match for the Skylights, totaling 12 kills, 13 digs and three aces. Jessica Wilcox added eight kills, while Erin Jensen had nine. Stolearcius led the way with 14 digs.

In the final match of the weekend, MSU-N took on No. 6 Grand View, and fell by scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-22. After a slow start, the Skylights played much better in the second and third sets, but it was a case of too little, too late. Cydney Auzenne and Dayna Jensen each had 11 kills for Northern, while Wilcox added nine. Erin Jensen had a stuff block, while Stolearcius had a team-high 18 digs.

"We learned a lot about more about ourselves this weekend," Huebsch said. "We learned more about our strengths and about our weaknesses. We saw a lot of things we needed to work on. And overall, I thought we played better than we did in Spokane, even though that didn't translate into wins. So we got what we wanted out of this trip, and I think it will pay big dividends for us later in the season."

As tough as the four matches in Nebraska were for Northern (3-6), the final weekend of nonconference play will likely be even more difficult. Friday-Saturday, MSU-N will be in Helena for the Carroll/Montana Tech Tournament, where the Skylights will face defending NAIA champion Texas-Brownsville, as well as No. 2 Concordia-Irvine, Biola University and California-Merced.

Dordt def. MSU-Northern

18-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-21

MSU-N leaders – Kills 43 (Dayna Jensen 13, Erin Jensen 9), Assists 38 (Jaden Lynch 33), Aces 6 (Dayna Jensen 3), Digs 47 (Sydney Stolearcius 16, Dayna Jensen 9), Blocks 7 (Taylor Woolman 1, Jessica Wilcox 1).

Midland def. MSU-Northern

25-15, 25-17, 25-19

MSU-N leaders – Kills 26 (Dayna Jensen 7, Erin Jensen 7, Jessica Wilcox 5), Assists 22 (Jaden Lynch 12), Aces 6 (Sydney Stolearcius 2), Digs 44 (Dayna Jensen 13, Sydney Stolearcius 11), Blocks 0.

Northwestern def. MSU-Northern 25-21, 22-25, 25-14, 25-19

MSU-N leaders – Kills 36 (Dayna Jensen 12, Erin Jensen 9, Jessica Wilcox 8), Assists 32 (Jaden Lynch 22), Aces 5 (Dayna Jensen 3), Digs 47 (Sydney Stolearcius 14, Dayna Jensen 13), Blocks 7.

Grand View def. MSU-Northern

25-17, 25-23, 25-22

MSU-N leaders – Kills 39 (Cydney Auzenne 11, Dayna Jensen 11, Jessica Wilcox 9), Assists 38 (Jaden Lynch 12), Aces 6 (Sarah Stringfellow 2), Digs 47 (Sydney Stolearcius18, Dayna Jensen 13), Blocks 4 (Erin Jensen 1).