Skylights go 3-1 in North Dakota

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team was looking to use the last weekend of the non-conference season to fine tune, and get ready for Frontier Conference play. And after four more tough matches, the Skylights accomplished that goal.

MSU-N went 1-1 in two matches Friday in Jamestown, North Dakota, before moving on to Valley City, North Dakota, for two more wins Saturday. The 3-1 weekend at the North Dakota tourney gives MSU-N an 8-8 record after four weeks of non-conference matches on the road, and the Skylights are now finally ready to come home.

“It was a good weekend for us,” Northern head coach Bill Huebsch said. “I am very happy for our girls. It’s been a difficult preseason. And finally to get to the last matches and play some of our best volleyball of the season, it was great to see. I’m very proud of this team.”

On Friday, MSU-N opened the tournament with a dominant win over Waldorf College of Iowa. Waldorf is a strong team, but the Skylights played well in a 25-18, 25-19, 25-22 victory.

Cassie Krueger had 10 kills for Northern, while Korrie Stephenson added seven kills and an ace. Erin Jensen played well on defense as well, totaling two stuff blocks.

The second match on Friday was Northern’s toughest of the weekend. The host Jamestown Jimmies were an NAIA national tournament team a year ago, and on their home floor, the Jimmies took down the Skylights by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 and 25-22. Northern played well in claiming in the opening set, but the Jimmies rallied for the win.

In the only loss of the weekend, Krueger tallied 14 kills and an ace, while Stephenson had nine kills and Jacy Vining added 14 digs on defense.

“Even though we didn’t win, it was a great match (against Jamestown),” Huebsch said. “That first set was great. We went to-to-toe and stood up to them. Overall it was a great match. Jamestown is really good. It was a great atmosphere. Playing them on their home floor was as close to a conference road match as we have seen. So it was great preparation for us and we played really well.”

And while the loss was a tough one for MSU-N, for the fourth week in a row, the Skylights showed resiliency. MSU-N seems to always bounce back well from tough losses, and it did again Saturday when the Skylights throttled Mount Marty College in straight sets. Northern won by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-16. Jensen had 14 kills and Stephenson added 10 in the victory, while Jessica Wilcox had eight digs and two blocks.

As well as Northern played Saturday morning, the Skylights played even better in their final match of the weekend. Northern again showed toughness as the Skylights dropped the first set to Valley City, but ultimately ran off three straight wins, winning the match by scores of 23-25, 25-17, 25-22 and 25-20.

In the win, Krueger had 15 of Northern’s 54 kills, but the Skylights also got 12 kills from Stephenson and 10 each by Wilcox and Jensen. Emily Russell had another big match as well with 42 assists, while Wilcox led with 17 digs and Stephenson and Kylie Pasieka each served three aces.

“Saturday, those were both good matches,” Huebsch said. “Against Mount Marty, our middles really played well. Against Valley City, on their home floor, I thought we again showed a lot of maturity. That was a tough match, but we stayed composed and that was a really good win for this team.”

And in the end, the Skylights are coming home with three good wins. And they couldn’t be more excited about not only how they're playing, but finally getting to play in the Armory Gymnasium. Northern begins Frontier Conference play Thursday night against Lewis-Clark State and then hosts Rocky Mountain College Saturday night.

“It’s been a tough, challenging preseason,” Huebsch said. “Four weeks on the road is very challenging. But I think we got everything we wanted out of it. I know we’ve grown as a team so much. And we’re battle tested now.

“And the girls are really excited to finally get to play at home,” he added. “They’re super excited about these matches this weekend. It’s going to be very exciting to be at home and play in front of our great fans.”

MSU-Northern def. Waldorf

25-18, 25-19, 25-22

MSU-N – Kills 39 (Cassie Krueger 10, Cydney Auzenne 7, Korrie Stephenson 7), Assists 33 (Emily Russell 31), Aces 3 (Auzenne 1, Russell 1, Stephenson 1), Digs 22 (Jacy Vining 5), Blocks 5 (Erin Jensen 2).

Jamestown def. MSU-Northern

22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-22

MSU-N – Kills 45 (Cassie Krueger 14, Korrie Stephenson 9), Assists 38 (Emily Russell 31), Aces 1 (Krueger 1), Digs 61 (Jacy Vining 14), Blocks 9.

MSU-Northern def. Mount Marty

25-20, 25-19, 25-16

MSU-N – Kills 43 (Erin Jensen 14, Korrie Stephenson 10), Assists 31 (Emily Russell 24), Aces 4 (Cassie Krueger 2), Digs 27 (Jessica Wilcox 8), Blocks 3 (Wilcox 2).

MSU-Northern def. Valley City

23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-20

MSU-N – Kills 54 (Cassie Krueger 15, Korrie Stephenson 12, Jessica Wilcox 10, Erin Jensen 10), Assists 45 (Emily Russell 42), Aces 8 (Kylie Pasieka 3, Stephenson 3), Digs 57 (Wilcox 17), Blocks 10 (Stephenson 2, Mikayla Virostek 2).