Skylights fall to Providence in Frontier tourney

A difficult season for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team came to an end Friday night when the Skylights lost to the University of Providence in the first round of the Frontier Conference Tournament in Butte.

For the third time this season, the Argos swept the Skylights, this time, ending Northern’s season by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-23.

Northern’s best set was the third as the Skylights never gave up, but for the match, the Skylights had just 22 kills and hit minus .011. Emily Gutierrez and Jessica Curl combined for 11 kills for the Skylights, while Hannah Amtmann had 14 digs. UP had 34 kills, led by eight from Sydney Larson. The Argos would advance to the Frontier championship match Saturday night, where they stunned previously undefeated Rocky Mountain College to win the Frontier championship.

During the Frontier tourney, the league also released its 2018 All-Conference Team and postseason awards. Northern freshman Abigail Ellison was named to the 2018 All-Freshmen team. Ellison, a former standout at Chinook and Bigfork, joined the Skylights last spring. Junior Hailey Warren was named Northern’s Champions of Character recipient.

Rocky outside hitter Hailey Copinga was named Frontier Player of the Year, while Western’s Dylan Fowler was named Defensive Player of the Year. RMC’s Natalie Hilderman was named Setter of the Year, UP’s Kelsey Shaver earned Newcomer of the Year and Carroll College’s Lexi Mikkelsen was named Freshman of the Year. RMC’s Laurie Kelly was named Coach of the Year.

Providence def. MSU-Northern

25-12, 25-16, 25-23

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Hailey Warren 0-0-0; Hannah Amtmann 0-0-0; Katia Michelotti 1-0-2; Shania Neubauer 1-0-1; Emily Gutierrez 6-1-0; Jessica Curl 5-0-1; Jordan O'Connor 5-0-2; Shay Waldbillig 0-0-0; Abigail Ellison 4-0-1; Mckaylie Tanner 0-0-0. Totals 22-1-5.0.

UP - (kills-aces-blocks) Paige JENSEN 0-1-0; Tymerie VINCELLI 7-0-1; Isabelle PARKER 4-0-2; Olivia SNEAD 0-1-0; Melissa GONZALEZ 6-0-2; Ember SCHWINDT 3-0-2; Lauren BROWN 5-0-1; Cydney FINBERG 1-1-0; Sydney ANDERSEN 8-0-1; Kaila DAWN 0-0-0; Sara TARUM 0-0-0; Cameron DAVIES 0-0-2; Skyla NEUBAUER 0-0-0; Averi DYER 0-0-0. Totals 34-3-6.0.

2018 Frontier All-Conference Volleyball

1st Team

Brielle Bumgarner, Carroll College; Rachel Gregg, Lewis-Clark State; Sabrina Hopcroft, Montana Tech, Masha Korol, Montana Tech, Dylan Fowler, UM-Western, Hailey Copinga, RMC, Natalie Hilderman, RMC, Olivia L'Ami, RMC, Sydney Andersen, UP, Averi Dyer, UP, Kelsey Shaver, UP.

2nd Team

Alya Carpenter, Carroll College; Rayna Pilegram, Carroll College; Aubrey King, Lewis-Clark State, Lauren West, Lewis-Clark State, Karina Mickelson, Montana Tech, Daniella Russell, RMC.