Skylights make one last stand at home

To say that the 2016 volleyball season has flown by would be an understatement for the Montana State University-Northern Skylights. But as fast as the season hasgone, one thing has become abundantly clear — the Skylights have gotten better and better with each passing week.

And, as the Skylights (4-6, 5-14) approach their final two matches of the regular season, the goal remains just that — to keep getting better. Northern will look to do that when the Skylights host Lewis-Clark State tonight in the Armory Gymnasium, then close out the season Saturday afternoon against nationally ranked Montana Tech.

“We’re looking forward to playing at home,” MSU-N head coach Bill Huebsch said. “We’re looking forward to playing good volleyball these next two matches and, hopefully, end our regular season on a high note.”

Northern would also like to send its three seniors out on a high note. Setter Emily Russell, defensive specialist Jacy Vining and hitter Cydney Auzenne will all be honored before Saturday’s match against 25th-ranked Montana Tech.

“They have been great leaders,” Huebsch said of his senior trio. “They’ve been here through some rough patches and also some good times, but no matter what, they’ve always shown great leadership. I really appreciate everything those three girls have done for our program. They’ve worked really hard and they’ve been a very important part of helping our program get going again. It’s never easy to say goodbye to your seniors, and our program is really going to miss the three we have this year.”

Of course, Northern’s senior trio will get two final opportunities to play inside the Armory Gymnasium, starting with tonight’s match against struggling LC State, a team the Skylights dominated last month in Lewiston, Idaho. And while the Warriors aren’t the team they’ve been in past, they still have arguably the Frontier Conference’s best player in Kennadie Clute (6-1, OH), who has 288 kills and 48 blocks on the season. Middle hitter Stephanie Ovitz (5-11) is another dangerous attacker for the Warriors.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s match will be yet another tough one for the Skylights. The Orediggers (6-4, 18-8) beat the Skylights in four sets last month in Butte and are having one of their best seasons in recent memory. And with an offense that features stars Jordan Danz (6-0) and Bailie Cortner (6-2), as well as the Frontier’s top setter in Mackenzie Bauck, Tech is an offensive juggernaut.

And yet, Huebsch said the focus will be on what his team can do, and continuing the level of play that helped the Skylights destroy UGF and take Carroll College to the brink last weekend.

“We know the level we’re capable of playing at,” Huebsch said. “For us, it’s all about consistency. I thought we played our best volleyball of the season last weekend, and we want to be consistent and continue that this weekend.”

To continue that type of play, Northern will look to stay aggressive offensively, going to hitters Cassie Krueger, Timi Severson and Jillian Nickens. In the middle, the play of Haley Yoder and Mikayla Virostek has also picked up, especially defensively, and as always, the Skylights will look to take both the Warriors and Orediggers out of their system with tough serving and good back-row play from Vining, Hannah Amtmann and Kylie Pasieka, who has really come on strong as of late.

Momentum will also play a big part in that. Northern has built some strong momentum over the last couple of weeks, and Huebsch would like to see it continue, not only this weekend, but right into next week’s Frontier tournament in Great Falls.

“Right now, the focus is on playing good volleyball against Lewis-Clark State,” Huebsch said. “Then, we’ll move on to Montana Tech. Both teams are good. Our entire league is good and anything can happen on a given night. So we just want to focus on playing at a high level, the level we know we’re capable of and then carry that over into the tournament.

“But it’s definitely going to be a big weekend for us,” he added. “We’ve got two really big matches in our gym. Saturday is senior day. It’s going to be very exciting and very emotional, and I know the girls are really looking forward to these last two home matches.”

Tonight’s match between MSU-N, which currently is in sixth in the Frontier standings, and LC State starts at 7 inside the Armory Gymnasium. Saturday’s senior day match between the Skylights and Orediggers will start at 2 p.m.