Two-For-Two at Home: Skylights sink Argos

Every year, and especially this season, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team has a mission when it comes to playing Frontier Conference matches at home. And that mission is simple – win every match.

The mission isn't an easy one, but so far, the Skylights are perfect when it comes to their goal of holding serve at home. And that perfection continued Thursday night when the Skylights bounced their biggest rival, the UGF Argos in three games.

Northern improved to 2-0 at home and 2-1 in the Frontier by beating the Argos 25-23, 25-19 and 25-11 in the Armory Gymnasium.

"We enjoy playing at home," Northern senior setter Emily Russell said after Thursday's dominant win over UGF. "We just seem to play so well together on this floor. We want to go undefeated at home, and we are so far, and we want to keep it that way."

While it may not have started out easy, the Skylights sure made it look that way at times, even against a bigger Argos squad, as Northern has now yet to drop a set on its home floor.

UGF did come out swinging well in a close first set, one which saw 11 lead changes and 13 ties. But, MSU-N never let the Argos get any further ahead than two points, and when the Skylights went on a 6-0 run, sparked by two Timi Severson kills and a Cassie Krueger solo block, they found themselves leading 21-18. Madison Wilhelm brought UGF back to within on at 24-23, but Haley Yoder bashes a ball cross court on Northern's fourth set point to give the Skylights a 1-0 lead.

"I think you see the maturity this team is showing," MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch said. "In the first set, and again in the second, we fell behind by a few points, but, they (Skylights) didn't dwell on it. In the past, they may have and the lead would turn into six or seven. But now, you see us fight right back. That's a big part of the growing process. The runs teams are making on us are getting smaller and smaller, and that's what happened tonight. We just kept battling, and we showed a lot of consistency."

The Skylights also showed they're not just getting stronger by the match, but against UGF, they grew literally by the set.

UGF again led by as many as three points in the second set, but it was to no avail. Big kills from Severson and Jillian Nickens, and timely blocking from sub Mikayla Virostek helped the Skylights overtake the Argos at 15-14 and they would never trail again, with Kruger, Nickens and Virostek finishing off the second with kills.

From there, Northern jumped all over the talented Argos. MSU-N opened the third set with a 3-0 run and eventually. A 16-7 lead off a Yoder stuff block. And, late in the set, when senior Jacy Vining went back to serve, the match was all but over as Vining blasted two aces and Northern won the last seven points in a blowout final stanza.

"It would be hard to single out any one performance tonight," Huebsch said. "Our young kids really stepped up. You saw Timi and Jillian really swinging confidently, and Hannah Amtmann back there, they (UGF) couldn't get a ball down against her. And I thought Haley Yoder and Mikayla Virostek did a really good job at the net, which we needed because UGF is so big.

"So we had a lot of our younger players really step up," he added. "But then, Cassie hits really well, and our veteran players all did their thing. Emily Russell was really passing the ball so intelligently in that match. So, all-around, I just thought the entire team stepped up and played a great match."

A total team effort it was indeed. While UGF was bigger up front, Northern was the aggressor. The Skylights served seven aces, with Cydney Auzenne and Vining combining for five. Northern also hit a season-high .330 with 42 kills, while the Argos hit just .044. Offensively, Krueger had a match-high 13 kills to go along with a block, but Nickens added 11 kills and Severson finished with 10, while Russell finished with 38 assists. Defensively, the Skylights finished the match with five blocks, while Amtmann led all defenders with 17 digs.

So, without a doubt it was another impressive performance by the Skylights on their home floor. To win at home as always big in the Frontier, but, to thoroughly dominate your biggest rival makes it that much sweeter.

And now, with another big home win under their belt, the Skylights are hoping to continue the trend on the road. Tonight, they get right back into action when they travel to Helena to face nationally ranked Carroll College. It's the first of three straight road matches for MSU-N, its longest road stretch of the season.

"We're getting better every match," Huebsch said. "You can really see it all coming together. And tonight was a lot of fun to watch, it was so much fun to see us go out and play like we know we're capable of, and especially against a very good UGF team, a team which has a lot of size and talent. So, we'll take this match, and keep doing what we've been doing, and that's trying to get better every time we step on the floor.

"We have played really well at home," added Russell. "But now we need that to carry over to Friday (Carroll). We need to play just as well, and with just as much confidence and consistency in our away matches as we do at home."

Tonight's match between the Skylights and Fighting Saints starts at 7 in Helena. Northern won't play at home again until Oct. 8 against the UM-Western Bulldogs.

Skylights are 2-1 in Frontier, 3-9 overall; Next: at Carroll tonight

MSU-Northern def. UGF

25-23, 25-19, 25-11

UGF – Kills 25 (Madison Wilhelm 6), Assists 23 (Bree Davis 18), Aces 1 (Emily Stoker), Digs 31 (Tymerie Vincelli 7), Blocks 7 (Wilhelm 2, Maya Kiruluata 2).

MSU-N – Kills 42 (Cassie Krueger 13, Jillian Nickens 11, Timi Severson 10), Assists 39 (Emily Russell 38), Aces 7 (Cydney Auzenne 3, Jacy Vining 2), Digs 37 (Hannah Amtmann 17), Blocks 5 (Three with one each).