Northern spikers swept by the Argos in regular season finale

At least for this season, the bitter rivalry between the Montana State University-Northern Skylights and the University of Great Falls Argos was a little one-sided.

For the second time this season, the Argos swept the Skylights on the volleyball court, as UGF beat Northern by scores of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-19 Saturday night at the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls. The loss means Northern finishes the regular season with a 3-11 record in the Frontier Conference, and tied with the UM-Western Bulldogs for last place in the league standings.

UGF meanwhile, improved to 7-7 in league play, securing fourth place in the final conference standings, along with two wins over its biggest rival, the Skylights. Prior to this season, Northern had taken four of the last five meetings from the Argos.

And even though MSU-N went into Great Falls on a two-match winning streak, it wasn’t meant to be. Once again, the Skylights experienced offensive woes, and UGF took advantage. For the match, Northern hit a -.075, while the Argos tallied 37 kills and hit a stellar 209. MSU-N did defend UGF much better this time around. The Skylights matched the taller Argos in blocks, with seven, while they held star middle Madison Wilhelm to just eight kills. Wilhelm came into the match tops in the Frontier in kills.

However, as well as Northern played on the defensive end, the Skylights couldn’t overcome an early deficit in the first set. MSU-N rallied late, but it wasn’t enough, and the Argos the proceeded to race by the Skylights in the second set.

Northern fought back in the third, but again the Skylights came up short. Of MSU-N’s 27 kills, Dayna Jensen led the way with seven. Jensen also had Northern’s lone ace, as well as six digs and a block. Erin Jensen had two solo blocks to go with five kills, while Cydney Auzenne added four kills and two solo blocks. Sarah Stringfellow led MSU-N’s back row with nine digs.

On the other side of the night, UGF finished with a modest 37 kills, with Gabby Bienkowski totaling a match-high nine. The Argos did serve up five aces and had 46 digs to go along with their seven blocks.

Now, with the regular season in the books, Northern will turn its attention to making some noise in the upcoming Frontier Conference tournament. The Skylights will play either No. 1 seed Rocky Mountain College or No. 2 Lewis-Clark State in the first round of the tournament, which kicks off Thursday afternoon in Butte.

Great Falls def. MSU-Northern

25-18, 25-13, 25-19

MSU-N – Kills 27 (D. Jensen 7, E. Jensen 5), Assists 17 (J. Lynch 10), Aces 1 (D. Jensen 1), Digs 36 (S. Stringfellow 9), Blocks 7 (C. Auzenne 3, E. Jensen 2).

UGF – Kills 37 (G. Bienkowski 9), Assists 35 (C. Godfrey 17), Aces 5 (J. Santos 3), Digs 46 (R. Pauls 9), Blocks 7 (A. McEwan 2).

Final Frontier Conference

Volleyball Standings

Conf. All

W-L W-L

Rocky Mountain 14-0 26-2

Lewis-Clark State 11-3 17-8

Carroll College 8-6 16-12

Great Falls 7-7 16-12

Montana Tech 6-8 11-15

Westminster 4-10 10-17

UM-Western 3-11 11-15

MSU-Northern 3-11 7-20