Skylights start over at Frontier Conference volleyball tourney

It has been a season of difficult growing pains for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team. And yet, this weekend in Great Falls, the Skylights get to wipe the slate clean.

Northern (6-19), plays the University of Providence Argos in the opening round of the 2019 Frontier Conference Tournament tonight in Great Falls, and while it will be a tough match on the Argo's home floor, the Skylights have plenty to be confident about.

First, Northern comes into the match fresh off another well-played five-set match against Montana Western last Saturday. The Skylights took the Bulldogs to the brink and then some in Dillon, as the decisive fifth set went all the way to 24-22.

Northern will also have plenty of confidence tonight because the last time the Skylights played in Great Falls, they took a set off the Argos and played one of their best matches of the season.

The Frontier tourney is also an opportunity for the Skylights to find out just how far they've come.

All season long, Northern head coach Jerry Wagner has spoken about his team's progress, as he just wanted to see them take steps to continually get better. And matches like the Skylights played against the Argos back on Halloween night and in Dillon last Saturday, prove just that.

Northern has also gotten outstanding production from all areas of the roster this season. Rylee Burmester led the Skylights in kills with 241, while Elissa Lind added 187. Senior Hailey Warren finished the regular season with 504 assists, while junior Shania Neubauer added almost 200 assists in limited setting duties. As a team, the Skylights also served 121 aces in the regular season, with Lind totaling 22, Burmester adding 21 and Warren finishing conference play with 17.

Defensively, Northern was led in digs by freshman libero Katie Murdock, who has 364. Lind, Burmester, Warren and Neubauer all also topped the 200-dig plateau. On the front line, senior Katia Michelotti has 11 solo blocks, while she and Tammy Maddock each tallied 31 total blocks during the regular season.

Now though, the regular season is over and the Skylights will take one more shot at Providence, and seeing how far they can keep their season going.

The Argos (21-6) are the No. 2 seed in the Frontier tourney after going 9-3 in conference play, and finishing tied atop the league standings with Montana Tech.

The Orediggers (24-6) earned the top seed via a tiebreaker with the Argos and will have the first-round bye. They will play the lowest remaining seed in the tournament in Saturday morning's first semifinal.

The tournament began today at 2 p.m. with fourth-seeded Lewis-Clark State (20-10) taking on fifth-seeded Carroll College (15-11). The second quarterfinal will feature the Skylights and Argos, and the first round will wrap up with third-seeded Rocky Mountain College (18-12) battling sixth-seeded (Montana Western (9-17) at 7.

The two highest remaining seeds will then meet in the second semifinal Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Frontier Conference championship match will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday night, with the winner earning the league's automatic berth into the 2019 NAIA national tournament.

The Skylights and Argos will meet at tonight at 5. All of the Frontier Conference tournament action takes place at the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls.