Skylights get a fresh start

The Montanan State University-Northern volleyball team played to win, and wanted to win every single match they played this season. But, the young Skylights also had another goal. And that goal was to be playing their best when the postseason rolled around - regardless of their record.

That postseason is now here, and, if last Saturday night's senior night match against the UGF Argos was any indication, the Skylights are indeed going into the 2015 Frontier Conference Tournament playing well.

"We played really well," Northern head coach Bill Huebsch said of the Skylights' five-set loss to the Argos. "And that's what we wanted. We wanted to take some positive momentum into the tournament."

Now, Northern (10-18) will try and turn that positive momentum into an upset or two in the Frontier tourney, which starts Friday in Helena. The Skylights are the No. 6 seed and will face third-seeded Lewis-Clark State (19-11) Friday evening.

Northern has played LCSC twice this season, and in both matches, the Skylights were strong early on. All the way back in September, MSU-N took the opening set from the Warriors before falling in four games in Havre, while LCSC swept the Skylights last month in Lewiston, Idaho. The Warriors won four of their last five matches to finish the regular season, and are led by outside hitters Kennadie Clute and Treneisha Doyle. Clute led the Frontier with 400 kills this season.

But, the good part about playing a team for a third time in one season is, the Skylights know exactly what they have to do to win, while the Warriors face the daunting task of trying to beat Northern for a third time. LCSC will have to contend with a Skylight team that is confident in its abilities coming into the match and which is playing with nothing to lose.

Northern will count on its balanced offense to lead the way. Cassie Krueger finished the regular season with 317 kills, while Korrie Stephenson had 227, Erin Jensen had 199, Jessica Wilcox tallied 197 and Cydney Auzenne had 122. Steadily improving freshman Mikayla Virostek has come on strong of late, and has 50 kills and 19 blocks. Emily Russell finished the season third in assists in the Frontier with 933. Defensively, MSU-N is led by Jensen's 76 blocks, while libero Jacy Vining had 409 digs.

The Frontier tourney is a do-or-die format, so, if the Skylights knock off the Warriors, as they did both in 2012 and 2013 in the Frontier tournament, they will advance to face either second-seeded Carroll College (18-11) or seventh-seeded UM-Western (8-18) in the semifinals. Top-seeded Rocky Mountain College (24-7) has a bye in the first round, while fourth-seeded UGF (25-9) plays fifth-seeded Montana Tech (18-11) for the right to play the Battlin' Bears in the semifinals.

The Frontier tourney starts at 2 p.m. Friday, and the championship match is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday. All of the action will take place at the Carroll P.E. Center in Helena.