Northern's spring volleyball season ends at Providence

After an upset win on the road at Carroll College to start the Frontier Conference tournament, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team looked to continue their postseason run in the tournament semifinal at the University of Providence Thursday night. However, the Skylights fell to Providence, 3-0, as they did not execute on offense.

“We did not pass the serve,” said MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner. “We never had the opportunity to put much in the offense against them on a consistent basis.”

The loss ended the Skylights’ season that saw them face their fair share of adversity. They went 2-18 in the regular season to finish last in the Frontier Conference. At one point, they lost 12 matches in a row. They also had to deal with the delay to season to the spring and the absence of fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all the adversity, Wagner believes his players grew closer as a team.

“Through everything that was thrown at us, we became a team,” Wagner said. “We learned how to play together, we learned how to pull for each other, we learned how to like each other on the court, we built relationships throughout the season.”

The Skylights had been playing better in the latter part of the season, culminating in their win over Carroll to start the postseason. They were rewarded with a matchup against Providence, who finished first in the conference with an 18-2 record. The Argonauts had defeated the Skylights all four times they played in the regular season.

Early on in the first set, it looked like it would be competitive as the teams exchanged runs. The Skylights jumped out to a 5-2 lead and the Argonauts responded with six straight points to take an 8-5 lead. The Skylights then scored five straight points to retake the lead and Providence answered right back with four straight points to take a 12-10 lead.

The Argonauts did not give up the lead for the rest of the set. The closest the Skylights got on the scoreboard was one point, but they were never able to tie or take the lead. Providence went on to win the first set, 25-16, to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

“If they pass the ball well, you’re going to have your hands full offensively,” Wagner said. “We were not playing good offense, so they were getting multiple opportunities instead of us and that’s how a good team takes advantage.”

The Argonauts carried their momentum into the second set. After MSU-N scored the first two points of the set, Providence scored three straight to take the lead. They would then go on to extend their lead and keep the Skylights at bay for the rest of the set. Even though the Skylights made a push late in the set, the Argonauts held on to win, 25-21, and took a 2-0 lead in the match. Wagner believes that losing their starter Tammy Maddock to an injury in the first set affected how the Skylights performed in the second set.

“She’s counted on heavily for offense,” Wagner said. “I finally got back a roster and very good players in every position but I’m still not deep to where we can lose a senior middle blocker in a key position without sacrificing some consistency.”

Looking to close it out early in the third set, Providence scored three straight points to take the lead. The Skylights responded by going on a 6-3 run to tie the game. Providence then took control of the set by scoring five straight points to take an 11-6 lead. MSU-N could not get back into it as Providence won the set, 25-15, to win the match, 3-0.

Alana Graves finished the night leading the Skylights with seven kills. Kaitlin Murdock led the team with 13 digs and Emily Feller led the team with 25 assists. The Skylights finished the night with a hitting percentage of 5.4 percent. Adysen Burns led the Argonauts with 16 kills while Cydney Finberg-Roberts recorded 41 assists and Sacha Legros recorded 25 digs for Providence. The Argonauts finished the night with a 24.6 hitting percentage.

With MSU-N’s season now over, Wagner now looks ahead to the short offseason and quick turnaround to playing again in the fall. Wagner will have all four seniors returning for another season and he believes that the Skylights will continue to improve as they did during the latter half of their spring season.

“I can take away about seven straight weeks of playing better volleyball and knowing the reason why and knowing that we’re still hungry to prove our potential,” Wagner said.

Providence def. MSU-Northern

25-16, 25-21, 25-15

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Abigail Elliison 3-0-0; Tammy Maddock 2-0-1; Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Elissa Lind 6-0-1; Rylee Burmester 5-0-1; Emily Feller 1-4-0; Hailie George 0-0-0; Jada Sudbrack 1-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Jessalyn Chviliceck 2-0-0; Alana Graves 7-0-0; Marlee Bender 0-0-0. Totals 27-0-3.0

Providence - (kills-aces-blocks) Sadie Lott 8-0-1; Taylor Christensen 0-0-0; Renae Davis 9-0-3; Ember Schwindt 4-0-0; Cydney Finberg-Roberts 3-0-1; Adysen Burns 16-0-0; Sacha Legros 0-1-0; Jensyn Turner 9-0-3; Caleigh Cookson 0-1-0. Totals 49-2-5.0.