Skylights fight hard in Butte

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team now knows what it’s like to play in five-set matches. That’s because, in week two of their 2017 season, the Skylights played three of them in just two days.

Northern was at the Big Sky Challenge in Butte this past weekend, a huge tournament made up of not just Frontier Conference squads, but teams from all across the NAIA. And while the Skylights went just 1-3 on the weekend, they easily could have been 3-1.

Friday, Northern twice went to a fifth set, but came up just short on both occasions. First, Northern lost a heartbreaker to nationally ranked Bellevue by scores of 21-25, 26-24, 17-25, 25-13 and 15-6. The Skylights had a 2-1 lead in the match but just couldn’t hold on. Cassie Krueger and Mikayla Virostek combined for 16 kills in the tough loss.

And just three hours later, Northern felt the sting of another close defeat, this time at the hands of Evergreen State. The Skylights again led 2-1 in the match, but the Geoducks, who won 25-21, 21-25, 25-27, 25-17 and 15-10, stormed back to claim the final two sets. Krueger had a huge match with 22 kills for MSU-N, while Timi Severson tallied 14 kills and three blocks.

After an exhausting Friday, new head coach Rose Obunaga’s team had to wake up Saturday morning and face nationally ranked Eastern Oregon. And the Mounties swept the Skylights by scores of 25-15, 25-19 and 25-17. Krueger again paced the MSU-N offense with nine kills.

But as tough as the first three matches were, the Skylights didn’t leave Butte empty handed. Instead, Saturday afternoon, they found themselves again locked in a five-set battle, but in the tournament finale it was the Skylights who prevailed. Northern beat GSAC foe Cal-Merced by scores of 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25 and 15-11. The Skylights showed true resiliency by not letting the win get away from them after leading 2-0.

In the final match of the tournament, Northern got another massive outing from Krueger, who had 20 kills. Severson tallied 12 kills and six blocks, while Virostek added 11 kills in what was MSU-N’s third win of the season.

The Skylights are now 3-5 on the year, and will resume non-conference play this weekend with four matches at the Menlo College Tournament in California.

Bellevue def. MSU-Northern

21-25, 26-24, 17-25, 25-13, 15-6

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Kylie Pasieka 0-0-0; Mikayla Virostek 8-0-2; Cassie Krueger 8-0-2; Hailey Warren 0-1-1; Haley Yoder 6-0-5; Hannah Amtmann 1-2-0; Timi Severson 6-2-5; Katia Michelotti 3-0-1; Precious Atafua 0-0-0; Ashley Ponce 0-0-0; Shania Neubauer 1-1-2. Totals 33-6-13.0.

Evergreen St. def. MSU-Northern

25-21, 12-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-10

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Mikayla Virostek 5-0-0; Cassie Krueger 22-2-0; Hailey Warren 1-0-0; Haley Yoder 9-0-3; Hannah Amtmann 0-1-0; Timi Severson 14-0-3; Katia Michelotti 5-0-4; Ashley Ponce 1-0-0; Shania Neubauer 1-0-0; Mckaylie Tanner 0-0-0. Totals 58-3-6.0.

Eastern Oregon def. MSU-Northern

25-15, 25-19, 25-17

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Kylie Pasieka 0-0-0; Mikayla Virostek 3-0-1; Cassie Krueger 9-0-0; Hailey Warren 1-0-1; Haley Yoder 5-0-1; Hannah Amtmann 0-0-0; Timi Severson 6-0-2; Katia Michelotti 1-0-0; Precious Atafua 0-0-0; Ashley Ponce 0-0-0. Totals 25-0-3.0

MSU-Northern def. Cal-Merced

25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 15-11

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Mikayla Virostek 11-1-2; Cassie Krueger 20-0-1; Hailey Warren 2-1-1; Haley Yoder 7-0-1; Hannah Amtmann 0-1-0; Timi Severson 12-0-6; Katia Michelotti 1-0-1; Precious Atafua 0-0-0; Ashley Ponce 0-2-0; Shania Neubauer 1-0-0. Totals 54-5-7.0