Skylights fall in five-set thriller in regular season final

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team was looking to end its regular season strong as they get set for the Frontier Conference postseason tournament next week. However, they had lost three straight heading into their Friday-night match against No. 17 Rocky Mountain College at the Armory Gym.

The Skylights took the Battlin' Bears to five sets, but ended up falling, 3-2, to end their regular season. Despite the loss, MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner believes his team is playing their best.

"We played our hearts out and that's what I'm looking for at this stage in the game," Wagner said. "I've got everything out of this group and they answered the call."

The loss dropped the Skylights to 2-18 on the season, finishing last in the Frontier Conference. Meanwhile, the Bears improved to 16-3 to finish second in the conference and earn a bye in the postseason tournament. Despite being on polar opposite ends of the standings, their match on Friday night demonstrated that the Skylights can keep up with the Bears.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair that saw the teams exchange runs. With the set tied 7-7, the Bears scored four straight points to build a lead. After falling behind 13-8, the Skylights scored four straight points themselves to cut the deficit to one.

The Bears maintained their lead but the Skylights would keep battling back. As Rocky Mountain led, 17-16, the Bears went on a 4-1 run to increase their lead. The Skylights would again battle back and tie the set 24-24. Looking to score the set point, the teams went back and forth some more. The Skylights took a 26-25 lead and had a chance to win the set. However, the Bears scored three straight points to win the set, 28-26, and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

MSU-N took a lead early in the second set but it was short lived. With the set tied 6-6, the Bears went on a 4-1 run to take the lead. The Skylights answered right back as they scored three straight points to tie the set, 10-10. The Skylights and Bears would continue to exchange runs but Rocky Mountain took momentum and built a 20-17 lead.

MSU-N dug deep and went on a 5-1 run to retake a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the set. With the chance for the set point and only leading by one, Elissa Lind recorded a kill to give MSU-N the 25-23 win in the second set and tie the match, 1-1.

"You get one set and you don't come through and you get another shot and they do it," Wagner said. "It takes a lot of energy and a lot of effort to maintain that level of play."

The third set started close with the teams exchanging points. The Skylights finally broke through to take a 10-7 lead but the Bears scored two straight to cut the deficit to one. MSU-N played their best volleyball of the match when they went on an 11-2 run to build a 21-11 lead. The Bears tried to make a late run but MSU-N held on to win the third set, 25-18, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The third set stood in stark contrast to the Skylights' third set Thursday against the Bears. Just like Friday's match, their match on Thursday saw them win the second set to tie the match. However, on Thursday, the Skylights came out flat and lost the third set. With their win Friday, Wagner believes his team has learned their lesson.

"I got an intelligent group and they realize that they can't take a breath like that against any team if we want to be a good team," Wagner said.

The Skylights could not carry that momentum into the fourth set. The Bears jumped out to a 6-2 lead before the Skylights cut into it to make the score, 8-7, in favor of Rocky Mountain. The Bears then played their best as they went on a 14-4 run to build a double-digit lead. Rocky Mountain went on to win the set, 25-14, and force a fifth set.

"They pushed back and we knew they'd push back because we had a close-out set and those are the kinds of things that you have to realize," Wagner said.

Looking to win the match, the Skylights and Bears exchanged points to start the fifth set. They battled to a 6-6 tie when the Bears finally took control with four straight points. The Skylights could not fight their way back into it as Rocky Mountain held on to win the set, 15-9.

Rylee Burmester had another strong match for the Skylights as she led them with 14 kills. Other statistical leaders for the Skylights include Emily Feller with 47 assists and Shania Neubauer with 27 digs. As a team, MSU-N recorded a hitting percentage of 13.9 percent.

The Bears were led by Monique Rodriguez with 17 kills, Natalie Hilderman with 63 assists and Alya Embry with 40 digs. As a team, Rocky Mountain finished the night with a hitting percentage of 20.7 percent.

With the regular season now over, the Skylights will next play in the Frontier Conference postseason tournament beginning Tuesday. Even though the Skylights finished last in the conference, Wagner believes his team is playing at their best.

"We can say we're moving closer to being in the upper-half of this conference," Wagner said. "We also proved that we can knock somebody out if we can put it all together."

MSU-N will play at Carroll College to start the postseason Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Rocky Mountain def. MSU-Northern

28-26, 23-25, 18-25, 25-14, 15-9

RMC - (kills-aces-blocks) Morgan Allen 12-1-3; Monique Rodriguez 17-2-0; Natalie Hilderman 3-0-1; Tori Cybulski 0-0-0; Addy Valdez 0-0-0; Weiying Wu 14-0-4; Alya Embry 0-1-0; Kailey Thomson 0-0-0; Syndi Dobbin 0-0-0; Sam Oliver 0-0-0; Lainne Wilkins 0-1-0; Kyra Oakland 15-0-3; Taylor Wolf 7-0-2. Totals 68-4-8.0.

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Abigail Elliison 10-0-1; Tammy Maddock 9-0-6; Elissa Lind 13-0-2; Alana Graves 9-0-2; Rylee Burmester 14-2-0; Emily Feller 4-0-5; Hailie George 0-1-0; Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Jessalyn Chvilicek 0-0-0. Totals 59-3-10.0.