Skylights swept in Utah

Another trip to Salt Lake City, another tough loss for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team. It just seems like the Skylights can’t get over the hump when playing at Westminster.

Thursday night, the host Griffins beat the Skylights for the seventh straight time in Salt Lake City, as they won the Frontier Conference match by scores of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-19.

Northern, which fell to 0-5 in the Frontier, got off to a slow start and just couldn’t quite recover. The Griffins, who won for the first time in league play, jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first set, and while a Jessica Wilcox kill pulled Northern to within 9-6 early on, that’s as close as the Skylights would get in the opening set. With the score sitting at 19-14, the Griffins won six of the next eight points to take a 1-0 lead.

The Skylights would, however, fight the rest of the way. Dayna Jensen opened the second set with a kill and Sarah Stringfellow followed it up with one of her three aces on the night, giving MSU-N a quick 2-0 lead. Westminster stormed right back though and was ahead 21-12 when the Skylights rallied. At 24-14, Northern reeled off a 6-0 run and in all, fought off six set points before Westminster’s Jessica Chellsen finally put the game away with a kill.

The third and final set was similar. MSU-N stayed close early, but the Griffins eventually built an 18-11 lead. Northern wouldn’t give up and would fight off five match points before Brooke Larson finished the sweep with a kill.

Hitting was again Northern’s undoing. The Skylights hit just .117 for the match and had a mere 28 kills. Dayna Jensen led with 10 while Wilcox finished with eight. MSU-N was strong on serve and on defense, but it wasn’t enough. The Skylights had 10 team blocks, while Stringfellow had a good match with 10 digs and three aces. Sydney Stolearcius also added 10 digs.

On the flip side, Westminster hit .304 on the night, and had three players in double figures in kills. Chellsen had a match-high 13, while Alex Aalona added 11 kills and a block.

The loss was MSU-N’s sixth straight on the season, as the Skylights dropped to 4-14 overall. Northern will try for its first Frontier win of the fall when the Skylights play at UM-Western Saturday afternoon. Northern is back at home to take on arch rival Great Falls next Saturday night at the Armory Gymnasium.

Westminster def. MSU-Northern

25-16, 25-20, 25-19

MSU-N – 28 (Dayna Jensen 10, Jessica Wilcox 8), Assists 26 (Janelle Hoff 12, Jaden Lynch 11), Aces 4 (Sarah Stringfellow 3), Digs 42 (Sydney Stolearcius 10, Stringfellow 10), Blocks 10 (Carlie Haefner 1).

WC – Kills 51 (Jessica Chellsen 13, Alexis Aalona 11), Assists 45 (Taylor Gustafson 41), Aces 4 (4 with one each), Digs 51 (Alyse Horton 15), Blocks 4 (Aalona 1).