Dawgs bite Skylights in Dillon

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights were riding a pretty good winning streak against the UM-Western Bulldogs coming into the 2018 Frontier Conference volleyball season. Saturday, the Bulldogs put an end to it.

Northern went to Dillon in search of its first conference win, but the Bulldogs wound up sweeping the Skylights by scores of 25-15, 25-7 and 25-21 in a dominating performance at Straugh Gym. The loss dropped the Skylights to 0-6 in the Frontier.

From the start of the match, the Skylights had to play from behind as Western came out swinging. And eventually, the Bulldogs would finish the match hitting a season-high .250. The Bulldogs hit a scorching .556 in the second set. Western finished the win with 41 kills and eight aces, led by Kylie McCree's 14 smashes.

On the other end, Northern finished with just 22 kills, with Emily Gutierrez totaling six and Abi Ellison adding five. McKaylie Tanner had 17 assists, while Shania Neubauer had three aces. Hannah Amtmann had 15 digs and Katia Michelotti and Jordan O'Connor each had a block.

The loss dropped Northern to solo last place in the Frontier standings heading into the bye week, while Western won for the first time in league play.

The Skylights (1-16) will return to action Oct. 18 when they travel to Montana Tech. Northern also visits Lewis-Clark State Oct. 20 before returning home to host Providence Oct. 24.

Western def. MSU-Northern

25-15, 25-7, 25-21

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Hailey Warren 0-0-0; Hannah Amtmann 0-0-0; Katia Michelotti 2-0-0; Ashley Ponce 0-0-0; Shania Neubauer 1-3-0; Emily Gutierrez 6-1-0; Breanna Brickey 0-0-0; Jessica Curl 3-0-1; Jordan O'Connor 4-0-1; Abigail Ellison 5-2-0; Mckaylie Tanner 1-0-1. Totals 22-6-2.0.

UM-W - (kills-aces-blocks) Kelsey Potter 5-3-1; Dylan Fowler 0-0-0; Karen Kale 1-2-0; Ellen Wolferman 6-1-3; Makenna Livezey 2-0-2; Jessica Weber 3-1-0; Talyn Pitcher 2-0-2; Kyra Palmer 8-0-2; McKenna Fink 0-1-0; Kylie McCree 14-0-0. Totals 41-8-5.0.