Skylights look to keep improving as they return home

Three weeks have already come and gone since the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team began a season they were so looking forward to. And while things started off with a bang, there has been plenty of growing pains along the way.

Northern opened the season Jan. 29 with a win over Montana Western but has since gone 0-5, with the last four of those losses coming on the road. Now though, the Skylights get to come back home as they take on the arch rival Providence Argos (4-2) tonight and Saturday in the Armory Gymnasium.

Of course, the Argos are the defending Frontier champions, but that was all the way back in 2019, so a lot has changed. Still, led by longtime head coach Arunas Duda, and the talents of middle blocker Sadie Lott, who leads the league in kills, setter Cydney Finberg-Roberts who is tops in assists, and outside hitter Sacha Legros, who leads the Frontier in digs, the Argos pretty much have all their bases covered.

"Providence has a very nice, up-tempo offense and great ball control, digging and passing team," MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner said. "Offensively, we will need to continue our offensive development moving upward - strong serve receive, keep an uptick in our hitting efficiency and winning a higher percentage of the long rallies. Defensively, we have made a very nice jump in our court coverage and pursuit. We will need to keep that great attitude and toughness trending higher in preparation for Providence and each of our conference opponents to have success."

And that's the process for the Skylights. They are focused on themselves and getting better. Northern still hasn't been at full strength yet, though they do have top hitters Rylee Burmester and Elissa Lind now playing together, while Shania Neubauer is a floor leader and freshman Alana Graves is having an outstanding start to her college career. And yet, Northern is still a work in progress, but it's progress Wagner is liking.

"To be honest, it is much too early to evaluate," he said. "We are clearly getting better each week and with each outing in different ways. I'm excited about the progress.

"I still see our biggest strength being the leadership of a highly respected veteran core of players on this team," he continued. "The efforts of the veterans coupled with the great talents and emergence of each player on the team will allow us to establish strengths across the board."

The Skylights look to keep making that progress when they host the Argos for a weekend doubleheader. Tonight's match starts at 7 in the Armory Gymnasium, followed by a rematch in the Armory Saturday at 1 p.m.