Northern spikers find success in second Arizona trip

To open the 2021 season, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team spent not one but two weekends in Arizona. And the second one was quite the trip.

The Skylights started their second stint in Arizona with a patch against Park University in Gilbert, Arizona, last Thursday, where they won by scores of 19-25, 25-23, 25-21 and 25-22. It was the first of what would be a three-win trip for Northern. In that first victory, the Skylights got 12 kills and 12 digs from Rylee Burmester, while Emily Feller had 30 assists and Marlee Bender tallied a pair of blocks.

The Skylights then moved on to the Arizona Christian Tournament this past weekend, where they fell to Embry-Riddle and Arizona Christian on Friday, but rebounded to top an old rival on Saturday. That win came against Lewis-Clark State as the Skylights beat the Warriors by scores of 23-25, 25-19, 25-22 and 25-23. It was a huge win for head coach Jerry Wagner’s team, as the Skylights were led by 10 kills from Abigail Ellison as well as four blocks from Alana Graves. Burmester tallied four aces and 14 digs in the win.

Northern wasn’t done, either. Later Saturday, the Skylights took down Valley City State by scores of 25-23, 25-21, 23-25 and 26-24. In a very tight match, the Skylights rose to the challenge with a big effort from Burmester and Graves.

On Friday, Northern fell to ERAU by scores of 26-24, 25-23 and 25-21. Ellison paced Northern’s offense with eight kills, as well as four blocks and an ace. Friday also saw ACU best the Skylights by scores of 25-10, 25-19 and 25-19. Ellison totaled six kills, one ace and a block, while Shania Neubauer had nine digs.

With three wins in Arizona, the Skylights are now 4-5 overall. They will have a week off before traveling to Dickinson, North Dakota for the North Star Challenge Sept. 10-11.