Long Road: Skylights nearing the end of the Frontier's regular season

For the Montana State University-Northern Skylights, it all comes down to two matches. No, this weekend's road trip to end the regular season won't be the last two matches the Skylights will play this season, but they will help determine Northern's destiny as the postseason looms.

And both road matches will be daunting for the Skylights, who have lost three straight in Frontier Conference play.

Tonight, Northern (3-7, 9-15) is in Lewiston, Idaho, for a match with significant importance. Not only will the Skylights try to avenge a loss to Lewis-Clark State last month in Havre, but they are deadlocked with the Warriors in sixth place in the Frontier standings, and the winner of tonight's match will likely earn the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Frontier Tournament.

And winning on the Warriors' home floor won't be easy. The Skylights have really been struggling hitting the ball, even with senior Cassie Krueger leading the conference in kills at 281. Timi Severson is also among the league leaders in hitting percentage, but overall, Northern is just .164 on the season, and that number has dipped even lower in the last three weeks.

Defensively, though, the Skylights have been strong, especially blocking the ball, and they'll need the likes of Mikayla Virostek, along with Katia Michelotti and Severson to come up big at the net tonight.

Offensively, the Warriors are relying on Aubrey King (OH, 6-1) and Rachel Gregg (OH, 6-0). But the Warriors have a tall, attacking team, and that will challenge Northern's block, as well as the back row, which is led by Hannah Amtmann.

"I think our biggest strength is our blocking," Northern head coach Rose Obunaga said. "We've been very consistent with it. But we also must serve tough. These last few teams we're playing, they all are very aggressive, so we need to serve tough to get them out of system."

And while playing at LC State (3-7, 9-13) is tough enough, the Skylights then have to finish the regular season at nationally ranked Montana Tech (9-1, 19-7) Saturday. The Orediggers, currently ranked No. 14 in the NAIA, swept the Skylights in Havre earlier this season, and they have just one loss in conference play on their resume.

With Tech, there isn't one strength or weakness an opponent can exploit either. The Diggers are by far the top offensive team in the Frontier, led by the trio of Angela Molesworth, Masha Korol and Gena McMillan. They also have a top setter in Tori Chelini, and their offense is always on the attack. But they are also good at defending, too. Tech is in the top half of the Frontier in most defensive categories, while Hannah Liss leads the league in aces.

So again, it will be tough for Northern to find a crack in Tech's armor, something that's only third-place Carroll College has done this season.

However, Northern will be plenty motivated, not only in Butte but also tonight against LC State, as the Skylights try to climb up in the Frontier standings. Two wins could push them all the way into fourth place, while two losses could see them end up in sixth, or possibly tied with UM-Western for last, depending on what the Bulldogs do this weekend.

So with the Frontier tournament now just a week away, the Skylights have a lot riding on this last road trip.

"We are looking to finish strong," Obunaga said. "We want to play our best volleyball of the season at this time of the year."

Tonight's match between the Skylights and Warriors starts at 8 in Lewiston, Idaho. Saturday's match against Montana Tech gets underway at 2 p.m. in Butte.