Skylights tripped in home debut

After four grueling weeks on the road, after some difficult losses at the hands of some very good teams, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team couldn't have been happier to see the inside of the Armory Gymnasium. And the Skylight fans were happy to finally see their team in action.

However, Northern's long-awaited home debut was spoiled by a pair of outstanding Frontier Conference teams this weekend, as the Skylights fell to Rocky Mountain College Friday night and Carroll College Saturday afternoon.

The losses dropped Northern to an 0-4 start to Frontier play, but after Saturday's tough match with the Fighting Saints, head coach Bill Huebsch saw some positives.

"I thought today, we gave a much better effort," Huebsch said. "I thought, at times, we played with more consistency than we have all season long. I felt like we competed at a much better level today. We have a long way to go, and we just need to keep getting better, but I also feel like, especially after today, that we've already come a long way since the beginning of the season. So I'm not disappointed in what happened in today's match. Not at all."

Following a quick three-game sweep at the hands of No. 1 rated RMC Friday night, it would have been easy for the Skylights to come back flat against Carroll. And though Northern got off to a sluggish start Saturday afternoon, the Skylights showed some fight, and some toughness. MSU-N rebounded to win the second set, 25-23, then lost a close third, 26-24, before finally succumbing to the Saints 25-19 in the fourth.

"We didn't start off that well, but in the second and third sets, I thought we battled, we competed and we didn't just give the critical points away on errors, like we have been doing too much of this season," Huebsch said. "We battled today, we played really hard and that's what we ask these kids to do. So I'm not disappointed at all. We showed today that we can compete at the level we want to. Now we just have to show it more often."

The Skylights did indeed battle the Fighting Saints tooth and nail.

After Carroll won the first set 25-21, Northern fell behind 8-2 in the second, and it looked like the route might be on again. However, a Sarah Stringfellow ace capped a 6-0 MSU-N run, and the set became a dogfight from there. The Skylights caught Carroll at 13-13 on a Jessica Wilcox stuff block, then overtook the Saints on another Wilcox block, part of another MSU-N 6-0 run. Carroll would reel off a 6-0 run of its own to tie the set up at 20-20, but from there, Northern retaliated again.

A timely kill by freshman Kylie Pasieka put MSU-N back out in front, and two Dayna Jensen blasts helped Northern stay there. At 24-23, Wilcox recorded her third block of the match, and Northern had evened things up at a set apiece.

But as quickly as Northern's good fortunes came, they left again. Carroll responded by taking a commanding third set lead of 19-10, and it looked again like the Saints might run away with the match. But Northern showed heart, starting with an Erin Jensen block, one of 15 MSU-N stuffs on the day, the Skylights stormed back. Down 24-21, Jensen caught the Skylights up with three more kills, as MSU-N staved off three set points. But the joy was short-lived as a kill by Sarah Roshak gave the Saints another set point, and on the next MSU-N error, the Saints had a 2-1 lead.

MSU-N would continue to fight in the fourth set, but Roshak and the Saints heated up, recording seven blocks in the set, and hitting a match-high .327. Those numbers were just too much for the Skylights to overcome, and Carroll left Havre with its first victory in three years.

"We showed some consistency today, and I'm proud of the way we kept fighting back," Huebsch said. "The block was a real bright spot for us today. Overall, our defensive effort was much better today. We still need to execute better on offense. Errors and mistakes really hurt us at the wrong times today. But I was very proud of our effort in this match."

Dayna Jensen recorded a match-high 15 kills and 15 digs for the Skylights, while Erin Jensen had 12 kills and three blocks. Wilcox paced the Northern defense with a career-high six blocks, while youthful players like Carlie Haefner added a pair of blocks, and Pasieka five kills. Sydney Stolearcius led Northern with 20 digs, while Stringfellow added 10. Carroll (3-1, 10-7), got 14 of its 57 kills from Paige Montgomery.

But while Huebsch saw a silver lining in Saturday's tough loss, there wasn't much Northern could do against the powerful Battlin Bears Friday night.

In a rematch of the 2013 Frontier championship match, Rocky stormed its way past the Skylights by scores of 25-11, 25-12 and 25-13. MSU-N led only once in the first set, while RMC led wire-to-wire in the second. The Skylights responded by playing tough early in the third, but at 8-8, the Bears ripped off another 7-0 run and they never looked back.

The Skylights could do little to stop perhaps the best team in the country, and more specifically, possibly the best player in the country in RMC's Yang Yang. The 6-0 senior totaled 22 kills and a pair of blocks, and her dominance was clear from start to finish. Yang went on 5-0 scoring runs of her own three different times during the match.

"They (Bears) showed why they're No. 1," Huebsch said. "They are a very good, very disciplined team. They don't make a lot of errors and they really make you pay for yours. Yang is a player of the year candidate, and you saw why in that match. She just does it all. So give them credit, they really were dominant tonight, they played really well, and we did not."

Northern had just 18 kills to RMC's 49 Friday night. Dayna Jensen led the way with nine, while Wilcox tallied seven to go along with a solo block. Stolearcius added 10 digs.

"We just need to get better, we need to keep growing," Huebsch said. "If we continue to improve and do the things we saw in the Carroll match, but do them more consistently, I think we're going to be just fine come November."

Northern (4-13) will head back out on the road to face Westminster Thursday night and UM-Western Saturday night. The Skylights will be back in the Armory Oct. 3 to host the University of Great Falls.

Rocky Mountain def. MSU-Northern

25-11, 25-12, 25-13

RMC – Kills 49 (Yang Yang 22, Aleah Billis 8), Assists 48 (Tori Bertsch 43), Aces 5 (Bertsch 3), Digs 57 (Jennifer Donaldson 12), Blocks 8 (Breanna Geck 3, Yang 2).

MSU-N – Kills 18 (Dayna Jensen 9, Jessica Wilcox 7), Assists 21 (Jaden Lynch 10), Aces 1 (Sarah Stringfellow 1), Digs 40 (Sydney Stolearcius 10), Blocks 5 (Wilcox 1).

Carroll College def. MSU-Northern

25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 25-19

CC – Kills 57 (Paige Montgomery 14, Sarah Roshak 13), Assists 54 (Jonni Dorr 34), Aces 2 (Rebecca Sweeney 2), Digs 61 (Sweeney 15), Blocks 12 (Montgomery 4, Crystal Schmidt 3).

MSU-N – Kills 45 (Dayna Jensen 15, Erin Jensen 12), Assists 45 (Janelle Hoff 22, Jaden Lynch 16), Aces 2 (Jessica Wilcox 1, Sarah Stringfellow 1), Digs 68 (Sydney Stolearcius 20, Dayna Jensen 15), Blocks 15 (Wilcox 6, Erin Jensen 3).