Northern volleyball swept by University of Providence

After a solid performance in the non-conference part of their schedule, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team has hit a skid to start Frontier Conference play. After they were swept by Rocky Mountain College in their conference opener this past weekend, the Skylights again lost, 3-0, by scores of 25-19, 25-14 and 25-9 when they went on the road Wednesday night to face University of Providence.

“We ran into a buzzsaw and didn’t respond,” MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner said. “I’m a little concerned that we haven’t responded a couple times when we had some pretty good chances to keep playing well, so we got our work cut out for us in the next few days.”

The loss dropped the Skylights to 0-2 in conference play early this season. MSU-N played UP earlier this month in the Frontier Conference Preseason Tournament which the Argonauts won 3-1. At that point, MSU-N had gone 8-5 in their non-conference part of their schedule so Wagner believes their play at the time led to a more competitive match against the Argonauts.

“We were much more mentally tough and we had a lot more confidence because we had been winning quite a bit,” Wagner said about their earlier meeting.

The teams went back and forth Wednesday in the first set before the Argonauts took control. After MSU-N took a 6-5 advantage, UP scored five straight points to take the lead. The Skylights kept battling to not let the set get away from them as UP had an 18-16 lead. But the Argonauts responded with a 6-1 run to take a 24-17 lead. The Skylights tried to stay in it but an MSU-N service error gave the Argonauts a 25-19 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

UP did not let up in the second set as they jumped out to an early 4-1 lead. The Skylights kept with it as UP was only able to build itself a 14-9 lead. However, that is when the Argonauts took control as they scored six straight points for a 20-9 lead. MSU-N tried to extend the set, but UP eventually won, 25-14, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Argonauts’ strong play continued into the third set. UP again built themselves a 6-4 lead before taking control of the set with a 12-2 run for a 20-6 lead. The Skylights were unable to get back into the set as UP went on to win, 25-8, to complete the sweep. Wagner believes that UP’s ability to control the ball allowed them to take control of the sets.

“When you’re at home, you serve well and pass great,” Wagner said. “They have a nice ball control team, and we didn’t do those things very well.”

Rylee Burmester led the Skylights with 10 kills on Wednesday night. Emily Feller accounted for 22 of the team’s 26 assists. Alyssa Pretty Weasel recorded six kills and Jada Sudbrack recorded five kills for the Skylights. While he has some good players on his roster, Wagner will need them to respond better in order to be more competitive moving forward.

“We got some kids with some strengths and they got to be able to hang on to them longer and establish them sooner,” Wagner said. “We’ll be fine, I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”

MSU-N will not have to wait long for an opportunity to bounce back as they will play University of Montana Western this Saturday at Armory Gymnasium. The Bulldogs head into that match with an 0-1 conference record after they were swept by Carroll College last weekend.

UMW has many players that Wagner and the Skylights will need to keep an eye on Saturday night. On offense, the Bulldogs have Kelsey Potter who leads the team with 214 kills this season. On defense, UMW has Dylan Fowler who leads the team with 603 digs. UMW also has Abagale Croninger who leads the team with 34 block assists and 13 solo blocks this fall. With the talent on their roster, Wagner expects UMW to improve this fall.

“They have an excellent libero and I think they have a lot more talent than they even had last year,” Wagner said. “People are getting better in this conference and catching these other teams.”

The Skylights and the Bulldogs played each other in the preseason tournament earlier this month where UMW won 3-1. Wagner believes that if his team had been more opportunistic in that match, the result might have been different. But even if the Skylights play better, he still expects a hard-fought match Saturday night.

“I’m expecting an epic battle, and if we can win it, it’ll be a feather in our cap,” Wagner said. “Every single one of these matches is extremely tough and there’s no gimmes.”

MSU-N volleyball will play UMW at Armory Gymnasium this Saturday at 6 p.m.

University of Providence def. MSU-Northern

25-19, 25-14, 25-8

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Olivia Isakson 0-0-0; Hailie George 0-0-0; Abigail Ellison 1-1-0; Alyssa Pretty Weasel 6-0-1; Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Jada Sudbrack 5-0-0; Elissa Lind 1-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Jessalyn Chviliceck 2-0-0; Anastasija Drogovic 0-0-0; Marlee Bender 2-0-1; Rylee Burmester 10-0-0; Emily Feller 1-0-0. Totals 28-1-2.

UP - (kills-aces-blocks) Taylor Christensen 0-2-0; Sadie Lott 9-0-3; Sacha Legros 0-6-0; Taylor DeVries 0-1-0; Jenna Thorne 10-2-1; Bailey Christensen 5-0-1; Zoe Naugle 9-0-5; Cydney Finberg-Roberts 1-0-0; Kylee Altmiller 0-0-1; Cassi Kopsa 0-0-0; Adysen Burns 0-0-0; Mariah Jardine 4-02. Totals 38-11-13.