2017 MSU-N Volleyball Preview: Skylights embark on a brand new journey

From the players on the floor, to the coach on the sidelines, there will be a lot of new faces on the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team in 2017, but that doesn't necessarily mean, the Skylights can't have success.

There may be growing pains early, as new head coach Rose Obunaga and her team adjust to each other. But the new coach, a former Olympic volleyball player, who took over following the resignation of long-time head man Bill Huebsch, is cautiously optimistic.

"At this point, I am still trying to learn about my team and about my players," Obunaga said. "I think once we have some competition we will know a little bit more about ourselves, what our strengths are, what our weaknesses are. Then we can work on correcting some of those things."

The Skylights did graduate players such as Emily Russell, Jacy Vining and Cydney Auzenne off last year's team, however, MSU-N still boasts a pair of All-Frontier performers back from last season in Cassie Krueger (6-0) and Timi Severson (6-0). Krueger led the Skylights with 280 kills or 3.1 kills per set, while Severson, the only freshman selected to the First Team, was second with 246 or three kills per set.

With Krueger and Severson, MSU-N has what should be a productive offense, but it will take more than two powerful hitters for the Skylights to improve on their 5-7 record in the Frontier last season.

"I think that we have some strong players that are back and we have a lot of experience," Obunaga said. "We have a group of six that includes mostly those experienced players. We will start with them and work in some of the others. Some positions, we don't have a lot of depth, so I am trying to put people in positions where they know what to do."

While Krueger and Severson may be the two stars of the team, Northern has a bevy of other contributors. One of them is Hannah Amtmann (5-4), who made the Frontier All-Freshman team as a defensive specialist. She led the Skylights with 355 digs. Kylie Pasieka (5-7) is another player who will help on the back end defensively. Others such as Mikayla Virostek (6-0) and Haley Yoder (6-2) will help defend the block, and Hailey Warren (5-8) should also contribute as a setter. Sophomore Katia Michelotti (6-2) should also be one to watch.

Newcomers to the Skylight program include former Belgrade All-Stater Shania Neubauer (5-9, OH) and Ashley Ponce (5-2) a 5-2 DS from California. Junior college transfers McKaylie Tanner (5-11, S/RS) and Precious Atafua (5-11, OH) should also contribute right away.

"I have a six person rotation that is permanent," Obunaga said. "And then we have others that are filling in. I want them to learn how to play with each other and give them that chance. If you start subbing people, before they learn to play with each other, it's chaos. So I have been training one lineup and then just plug in others, so they can still get used to each other."

Obunaga is still trying to learn and this week, when the Skylights open the season in Denver, she will find out plenty. Northern has four non-conference matchups in all lined up in Denver, but Friday, it faces NAIA defending national champion Hastings College. The Broncs also happen to be the preseason No. 1.

"I know that Hastings is a very good team," Obunaga said. "They have a really good team and when you play better teams you know your team is doing good. It's nice to play teams you don't know, you could be playing teams that are the top of their conference, so you know if you can compete with them, you have a good team."

The Skylights, who were 6-16 overall a season ago, look to have a fight on their hands to get into the top half of the Frontier this season. In the preseason coaches poll, MSU-N was picked sixth. Northern ranked ahead of seventh-place Montana Western, but was picked to finish behind Carroll College, Montana Tech, Rocky Mountain College, Lewis and Clark State and University of Providence in Great Falls.

"It's hard to know right now," Obunaga said. "A lot of it depends on the recruiting classes that each school gets. But we will get a chance to evaluate and see those teams and we will look and see how we can match our players up against them."

Northern is playing in the Johnson and Wales University tournament, but it will also play in some other non-conference tournaments such as the Big Sky Challenge, which starts Aug. 25, the Menlo tournament, which begins Sept. 1 in Atherton, California, as well as the University of Providence tournament. That will give MSU-N a total of 15 non-conference games before the start of conference play.

The Skylights won't play their first match at home until after the start of conference play, which comes Sept. 14, when Northern will open Frontier play on the road against Rocky Mountan College. The first home match will be Sept, 16 against Western.

On Friday, Sept. 22, Carroll will come to Havre and start a week long homestand for MSU-N. The Skylights will also host Montana Tech, Sept. 28 and LC State Sept. 30, in the final match of the homestand. The final home games come in late October. Northern will host Rocky in the Armory Gymnasium, followed by the University of Providence making a visit Oct. 26. That will lead to a brutal road stretch to close the regular season as MSU-N will head to Carroll Oct. 27, LC State Nov. 2 and Montana Tech Nov. 4.

"I still have seen very little of the other teams in the conference," Obunaga said. "We just want to see what everyone has and then we will try to study them and make adjustments."

The Skylights open the season today, with four matches in three days at the Johnson and Wales Tournament in Denver.