Skylights ready for week two

Last Saturday was a good day for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team. In LaGrande, Oregon, the Skylights finished their season-opening tournament with two straight wins.

Those wins came on the heels of back-to-back losses last Friday, so to see his team back bounce the way they did, that impressed veteran head coach Bill Huebsch.

Now however, Huebsch wants to see more, and the Skylights (2-2) will go looking for more when they travel to Helena for the Big Sky Challenge. The tournament will feature a host of Frontier Conference schools, as well as top-notch NAIA teams from around the west.

MSU-N will get four matches in Helena, playing Vanguard University and the The Master's on Friday, as well as Corban University and Dickinson State on Saturday. And while Huebsch said his team is more than capable of bringing home more wins, the most important thing this weekend is improving.

"I was really pleased with how we played in Oregon," Huebsch said. "We got a lot of girls playing time and we looked at a lot of different rotations. We saw some things we did really well, and some things we need to get better at. So we addressed those things this week in practice and now we'll go down to Helena and just try to get better."

Getting better is the main objective for a new-look Skylights team, one that has up to seven new players in the rotation. But, Huebsch also believe his team can, and should win matches in Helena, though he also admits, the competition will be tough.

Northern opens the tournament with its second Top 10 opponent in as many weeks. After playing No. 6 Eastern Oregon last weekend, the Skylights will get a crack at Vanguard on Friday. The Lions are ranked No. 8 in the NAIA Preseason Coaches Poll. Northern's second opponent on Friday, another GSAC school, The Master's, will also be tough. The Mustangs are receiving votes in the NAIA Coaches Poll, which means the Skylights will play back-to-back matches against top-level competition.

Saturday morning's match against Corban will be a rematch from last Saturday. In Oregon, the Skylights swept Corban in three sets, and dominated from start to finish. MSU-N will wrap up its trip to Helena with an old foe, the Dickinson State Blue Hawks. Two years ago, DSU was in the Frontier, and the Skylights beat the Blue Hawks three times that season.

"Helena is another opportunity to play tough matches," Huebsch said. "But they're also winnable matches. We know both California teams are very tough. We know what Corban has because we just played them, and they played us tougher than the scores showed. And I expect Dickinson to be much improved this season. So, these are going to be four quality matches for us, but I also feel, they're winnable matches."

No matter if the Skylights win or lose this weekend, Huebsch remains firm in what the main objective is. With each passing match, the Skylights' conference opener with mighty Lewis-Clark State gets closer and closer. So, now is the time for the Skylights to compete, improve and be peaking when Sept. 17 rolls around, and the trip to Helena gives them a chance to do just that.

"This is another opportunity to really challenge ourselves," Huebsch said. "We want to win every match, but above all else, we want to see improvement. Not just from tournament-to-tournament, but from match-to-match, even, set-to-set. So that's what we're really looking for this weekend. We just want to see ourselves getting better every time we step out on the floor."

Northern begins the Big Sky Challenge Friday with Vanguard at 1 p.m. and The Master's at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the Skylights face Corban at 9 a.m. and DSU at 3 p.m. Next week, MSU-N travels to Bellevue, Nebraska for another big non-conference tournament.