Skylights happy to be home for a while

Thus far, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team has spent the majority of the 2019 season away from the Armory Gymnasium. And even in Frontier Conference play, the Skylights have played three of four on the road.

That will all change tonight however when the Skylights host Rocky Mountain College in a Frontier tilt at 7 inside the Armory. Tonight's match starts a stretch where the Skylights get to stay home for almost the entire month of October, and, after so many struggles on the road, they'll be glad for the break.

Northern, which is 0-4 in the Frontier, played at Carroll College last Saturday, where the Skylights fell in three sets. The match was part of a tough stretch of conference games away from home, including losses at Lewis-Clark State and Montana Tech two weeks ago. Sandwiched in between was a homecoming loss to Providence last Saturday, so, the Skylights are certainly hoping to turn things around tonight, and it starts with a one-step-at-a-time mentality according to head coach Jerry Wagner.

"It's a process," Wagner said. "Right now, our goal is to put ourselves in a position to win a set. We've been close to doing that a few times, but haven't quite finished. So that's what we're trying to do right now, win a set, and when we do that, we can worry about the next one."

The Skylights nearly took Carroll to four sets last Saturday in Helena, so the progress is there. Northern also had a season-high in hitting at Carroll, with strong individual efforts from Rylee Burmester, Elissa Lind and Tammy Maddock in the middle. Burmester and Lind continue to lead the Skylights in kills, while Maddock and Katia Michelotti have been strong hitting out of the middle, as well as one the defensive side of the net. Northern also is getting excellent all-around play from Shania Neubauer, who sets, hits, blocks and plays in the back row for the Skylights. Neubauer comes into tonight's competition with 97 kills, 95 assists, 10 aces and 93 digs on the season.

However, as much as Northern has grown in its first season under Wagner, the Frontier hasn't changed. It's super-tough, and tonight's match is a prime example of that.

The Battlin' Bears come to Havre ranked 23rd in the NAIA and will be Northern's third nationally ranked opponent in the last two weeks. Rocky (4-0, 12-5) is also looking like a title contender once again, despite the fact that it graduated so many top players from a year ago, and head coach Laurie Kelly retired.

Former Rocky All-American Yang Yang, though, has picked up right where Kelly left off. RMC not only sits atop the Frontier standings, but the Bears also lead the Frontier in hitting - something they seem to do just about every season.

Individually, the Bears have one of the top attackers in the country in standout Daniella Russell, who has 207 kills and 28 blocks this season. Newcomers Morgan Allen and Monique Rodriguez have also been potent offensive weapons, while veteran Natalie Hilderman is a top-notch setter. Rocky is also once again one of the taller teams in the Frontier, so its no surprise the Bears are in the top half of the league in blocks and digs this season.

In other words, despite all the changes at RMC, the Bears are still really good, much like the rest of the league.

"The conference is very strong," Wagner said. "There are no easy matches, and this is the next match for us that will be very challenging."

The Bears will present a big challenge for a Northern squad that, while much-improved, is still trying to find its way a bit. Still, the Skylights can, at least for a while, relish in the fact that they will be at home for the next three weeks. Next week is the annual Frontier bye week, and when its over, the Skylights will be at home for three straight matches before returning to the road to face Providence Oct. 31.

Tonight's match between Northern and Rocky Mountain College starts at 7 inside the Armory Gymnasium. Northern returns to action Oct. 19 when Montana Western comes to the Armory.