Skylights face tough matches in Nebraska

With every passing day, every practice, every match, even every point, the start of the 2015 Frontier Conference gets closer and closer for the Montana State University-Northern Skylights. And they get to start the season in the friendly confines of the Armory Gymnasium.

However, before Northern can finally get to its much-anticipated Sept. 17 showdown with Lewis-Clark State, the Skylights will have to endure two more weeks of life on the road.

Northern (4-4) enters the third week of the season by traveling all the way to Bellevue, Nebraska, for the Bellevue College Tournament. The tourney is typically one of the best NAIA preseason tournaments in the country each fall, and it’s the second straight season that the Skylights are making the trip out.

“The competition at that tournament is very good,” said MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch. “It’s kind of one of those tournaments everyone wants to be in because it’s great competition and, if you win some matches out there, people are going to take notice.”

Last year, Northern went 0-4 in Bellevue, but the Skylights played three nationally ranked squads while they were there. And while MSU-N will face some more national powers this weekend, Huebsch is certainly expecting things to be a little different this time around.

“I like our schedule there,” he said. “We will see some really tough teams. We will play a variety of styles. But again, there’s matches we feel like we can win.”

Winning is important, but continuing to improve is still the main goal for a Skylights’ club that is already much-improved. In fact, with four wins at tournaments in Oregon and Helena, the Skylights are already halfway past their win total of all last season.

And a big reason for the improvements thus far is maturity and athleticism. Yes, Northern has six new players in the rotation, but none of them are freshmen. MSU-N has also gained some size and toughness at the net, and some athleticism in the back row.

Northern is also getting good leadership from its veterans, like Erin Jensen, Jessica Wilcox and Cydney Auzenne, all of who have turned out strong perfomances throughout the first two weeks of the regular season.

And the newcomers are coming on strong, too. Sophomore transfer Cassie Krueger is leading the team in kills, while junior setter Emily Russell has had a strong start to her first season as a Skylight.

But as strong as Northern has been out of the gates, there are areas Huebsch would like to see get better, and he hopes to see those improvements this weekend.

“We really need to tighten up our defense,” he said. “I feel like our blockers aren't doing a great job of influencing the pace of play at the net.”

As for who the Skylights will get a chance to improve against this weekend, the four matches will all be tough. MSU-N opens the tourney Friday with No. 18 Evangel. The match will be the fifth the Skylights have played against a nationally ranked opponent thus far. They finish up the first day with Culver-Stockton of Missouri. On Saturday, MSU-N will play Ashford University of Iowa, a team receiving votes in the NAIA Poll, and the Skylights will wrap up the tournament against host Bellevue on Saturday afternoon.

Following the trip to Nebraska, the Skylights have one non-conference tournament left. They will travel to Jamestown, North Dakota, for a tourney Sept. 11-12, before returning home to face LC State Sept. 17 and Rocky Mountain College Sept. 19. Northern plays its first four Frontier matches on its home floor.