Skylights open Frontier play at rivals

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team has spent the last three weeks traveling all over, playing some of the best teams in all of NAIA volleyball.

And while the Skylights are back on the road, tonight is different. Tonight, Northern begins defense of its 2013 Frontier Conference regular season championship as league play begins in Lewiston, Idaho. Northern (4-9) battles Lewis-Clark State (5-5) in the conference opener for both teams. The first ball goes up tonight in Lewiston at 7 p.m. MSU-N's road trip continues with a match against Montana Tech Saturday afternoon in Butte.

While the Skylights won just four matches during the preseason, the competition they faced over the last three weeks should have them well-prepared for what they'll see tonight against the Warriors, and all season in the Frontier.

"I hope so," said Northern head coach Bill Huebsch, who led MSU-N to a 15-1 record in conference play a year ago. "I hope that the progress we've made and the growing we've done this first three weeks carries over into conference play, starting with LC (State). I do know this, I know we're a much better team now than we were in Spokane. And I know we're battle-tested."

The Skylights, who boast no seniors and just three returning starters, are indeed battle-tested, and they are improved for where they started back on Aug. 21. But they'll have to be even better tonight, if they are to extend what is now a five-match winning streak against the Warriors dating back to the 2012 season.

Northern has had LCSC's number as of late, but tonight could be a tough one for the young Skylights, who will lean heavily on junior Dayna Jensen, sophomore Erin Jensen, sophomore libero Sydney Stolearcius and transfer Jessica Wilcox. The Warriors, who have endured a couple of unusual down seasons, look to be back on top of their game, and they are loaded with talent at every position.

"LC (State) is very good," Huebsch said. "I think they're a lot more experienced this season than they were last. They are typical of an LC team, too. They are big, they have kids who can terminate the ball, and they are very good defensively."

Northern will counter LCSC's talent with talent of its own. Dayna Jensen leads the team in kills with 149, while Wilcox has 99 and Erin Jensen has 97. Dayna Jensen has also been outstanding with her serve this season, already totaling 13 aces, while Wilcox has a team-high 15. Stolearcius, as expected, leads MSU-N with 158 total digs.

And Northern can't just be good tonight in Lewiston, the Skylights must be equally as ready to play the Orediggers on Saturday. Tech (5-7) is a much-improved team this season, and for the first time in a couple of years, the Orediggers are a veteran team. They return six starters from a year ago.

"These are two pretty tough road matches to start the season," Huebsch said. "Tech has beaten some really good teams in the preseason. So they look like they are going to be a tough team this year. And it's always tough going and playing at LC (State). So we're going to have to play our best volleyball so far."

And that's the idea. That's what the last three weeks have been about for the Skylights, who will see a bevy of players start their first Frontier Conference match tonight. It's been about improving, about gelling as a team and about getting ready for the Frontier Conference, which looks to be as difficult as its ever been. Now, the Skylights will indeed find out how far they've come in the last three weeks. And while Huebsch said he likes how far his team has already come, he wants to see them go much farther.

"We've made progress," Huebsch said. "I still think there's things we need to do much better. Our blocking has to get better, our communication and consistency have to get better. And those are things that will come, those things are very fixable.

"But I think we've done a good job of growing," he continued. "It's been a grueling schedule with a lot of ups and downs. Hopefully this team has learned that they can play at a high level, and also that in order to have success in this conference, they need to maintain that high level of play."

The Skylights conference opener against LC State starts tonight at 7 in Lewiston, Idaho. Northern's match with Montana Tech will start at 2 p.m. Saturday in Butte. MSU-N then makes its long-awaited home debut Sept. 19 against Rocky Mountain College at the Armory Gymnasium. Northern also hosts Carroll College Sept. 20.