New Beginnings

Jerry Wagner vowed he was going to have fun coaching the Montana State University-Northern Skylights in what is his triumphant return to his alma mater.

Well, one match into the season at least, it's mission accomplished as the Skylights had a whole lot of fun in their season-opening win over Medicine Hat College Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium.

Northern bested the Rattlers, who also played Providence earlier in the day, by scores of 25-18, 25-21, 20-25 and 25-17. It was the program's first win since Sept. 8 of 2018, and just the second overall since the start of last season.

"It was so fun," Wagner said. "You know, I've been away from it for a while (head coach). So it was fun to do this again. It was fun to be out there with the team and see them respond the way they did. It was a really good test, and alot of fun."

The fun started early for the Skylights, who have only been practicing for a little over a week, and had just Wednesday night's Maroon/Gold Scrimmage as a tune-up.

Northern came out swinging, and an early kill from Elissa Lind gave the Skylights a quick 5-0 edge. Later, MSU-N would rip off a 6-0 run, in a dominant first set that was finished off by a Shania Neubauer kill.

The Skylights then showed some moxie in the second set. The Rattlers led 3-0 but kills by Rylee Burmester and Neubauer capped a 6-0 run, giving the Skylights a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Abigail Ellison added a smash that gave Northern a 19-10 lead later in the set, and Burmester would finish things off with a kill and an ace.

"I had just an inkling of how the team would respond tonight," Wagner said. "But, it's the first match of the season, so you never know until you get out there. So it was really nice to see us play so well right away. I think we established a good flow, and that's because of two things; serving and passing. When we did those two things well, we played very well."

The Skylights did play well, but they also got something else out of Thursday night's win - they got a taste of adversity. And, they responded brilliantly. The Rattlers built up a nice lead in the third set, and never really looked back in forcing a fourth, but, from there, the Skylights responded in a big way. An early kill by Ellison, a 5-0 run to lead 17-10, some great defensive plays in the back row, and kill and an ace from Neubauer pushed the Skylights to a an exciting, and much-appreciated victory.

"When you play how we played in the first two sets, your opponent is going to push back," Wagner said. "It's expected. And Medicine Hat, who played Great Falls really tough earlier, did a good job of that. They played really well.

"But our girls responded to that the right away," he continued. "They pushed right back in the fourth set, kind of got back to doing what we were doing well, and things were really good from there. They did a great job, and they responded to that just like I thought they would."

Northern's first test of the season was indeed a good one. The Skylights had 37 kills, with Burmester topping out at 11, and Lind adding eight. Serving was a big key as well, with the Skylights tallying nine aces, including two each from Neubauer and Hailey Warren. MSU-N also out-blocked the Rattlers 5-2, with Burmester and freshman Marlee Bender each recording a solo block. Burmester also added a team-high 14 digs, while Neubauer tallied 12.

"There's a lot of things I thought we did really well," Wagner said. "Of course, now we can also look at this match and learn from it. There's no substitute for having someone else swinging at you, so this was great for us. It was a great test.

"Again, it was a lot of fun," he added. "I am really pleased with this match, and now we can use it moving forward."

The Skylights' busy week moves forward with Saturday's Alumni Match at 2 p.m. inside the Armory. Northern will then prepare to take on the regular season full-tilt, starting with four matches at the Big Sky Challenge next weekend in Butte.

Northern def. Medicine Hat

25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-17

MSU-N - Kills 37 (Burmester11, Lind 8, Ellison 5), Assists 34 (Warren 16, Neubauer 13), Aces 9 (Neubauer 2, Warren 2), Digs 59 (Burmester 14, Neubauer 12), Blocks 5 (Burmester 1, Bender 1).