One week till they're home

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team has been on quite the journey. In the last three weekends, the Skylights have played at tournaments in LaGrande, Oregon, Helena and Bellevue, Nebraska. But now, one last road trip is all that stands between the Skylights and four matches in the Armory Gymnasium.

But before Northern (5-7) can open Frontier Conference play at home next Thursday night, the Skylights will get four more tough non-conference matches when they travel to Jamestown and Valley City, North Dakota, this weekend.

And not only is it one last road trip before Northern gets a much-needed two weeks at home, but it’s one last chance for the Skylights to fine tune things before Frontier play begins.

“We’re getting better every time we step on the floor,” said MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch. “And that has been the goal. We feel like well certainly be battle tested when we get to our conference matches. So this weekend is another opportunity for that. To get better and gain more experience.”

The Skylights will indeed be battle tested. They’ve played five teams who are ranked in the new NAIA Coaches Poll, which was released Tuesday, including a four-set loss to No. 11 Evangel last week at the Bellevue Classic.

In fact, though the Skylights won just once last weekend in Nebraska, they took some important steps forward.

“The matches are really tightening up,” Huebsch said. “We are playing well right now. It’s a matter of just getting more consistent, especially on the key points in each set. But we were right there with all of those teams, and we had chances to win.”

Not only are the Skylights improving with each match, but their lineup is starting to really solidfy itself too. Sophomore Cassie Krueger leads the team in kills with 147, while senior Jessica Wilcox has 103. Setter Emily Russell has gone the distance for the Skylights so far this season, and she has 438 of Northern’s 490 assists. New libero Jacy Vining has 156 digs defensively, while Wilcox has 105 digs and Korrie Stephenson has 31 blocks. Northern has also proved to be a strong serving team so far, with 60 aces. Krueger leads the way with 20, while Stephenson has 17.

Russell was also named this week’s Frontier Conference Setter of the Week. At the Bellevue Classic, Russell averaged 10.13 assists and 3.53 digs.

So with solid numbers and a lot of experience, the Skylights head to North Dakota looking to put a cap on the non-conference season, and bring an end to a long, long road trip, a trip that started back Aug. 21. And they’ll get to do that against more top-notch competition.

MSU-N starts the Jamestown tournament Friday in Jamestown with matches against Waldorf of Iowa and Jamestown University. The Jimmies are currently receiving votes in the NAIA Poll and were a national tournament team a year ago. On Saturday, the Skylights move to Valley City where they’ll face Mount Marty College of South Dakota and host Valley City State.

“We’ll get four more tough matches this weekend,” Huebsch said. “Waldorf and Jamestown will both be very tough. And Valley City is playing really well right now and that will be a tough one as well. So this is another opportunity for us to improve, but we also feel like, with the way we’re playing, we should be able to go down there and win some matches.

“We just have to keep getting better,” he added. “This has been a long preseason. We’re going to end up playing more matches in the first four weeks than we will in our conference. So the girls are tired right now. But at the same time, this four weeks will make us better, and that’s been the goal all along. And we have a chance to get better this weekend.”

Following this week’s trip to North Dakota, Northern will finally get to play at home. The Skylights host Lewis-Clark State next Thursday night and Rocky Mountain College next Saturday. MSU-N is also at home to face Montana Tech Sept. 25 and Carroll College Sept. 26.