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Northern turns away Western in a five-setter at the Armory
Montana State University-Northern's Abigail Ellison, left, goes for a block during Saturday night's match between the Skylights and Montana Western Bulldogs in the Armory Gymnasium. Northern came back from two sets down to take the match. For more photos, go to www.havredailynews.com.
Rylee Burmester smashes a shot during Saturday night's match in the Armory.
Shania Neubauer passes during Saturday night's match in the Armory.
Emily Feller passes during Saturday night's match in the Armory.
Alana Graves smashes a ball during Saturday night's match in the Armory.
After an 0-2 start to Frontier Conference play this fall, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team was looking to get on track. On Saturday night at the Armory Gymnasium, things did not look great for the Skylights as Montana Western won the first two sets.
However, the Skylights were able to get into a groove and take momentum to come back for the 3-2 victory by winning their sets by scores of 20-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-10 and 15-10.
"I'm very pleased with tonight's performance. That was a team that played with confidence from the beginning to the end," MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner said.
The night did not start well for MSU-N as the Bulldogs opened the first set with a 7-0 run. After they played last season without any fans, Wagner believes a full Armory Gymnasium influenced his players' slow start.
"There's a lot of emotion out here now that we're playing with fans again and I just saw tense shoulders," Wagner said. "I just saw nerves."
Once the Skylights worked through their nerves, they worked their way back into the first set. MSU-N eventually tied the set, 20-20, but they could not hold on to momentum. The Bulldogs went on to score five straight points to win the set, 25-20, for a 1-0 lead in the match. Wagner believes if they had not fallen into that early hole, they would have had a better chance to win the set.
"That's too big of a run to give a team. We never got that run back," Wagner said. "You can't do that against a good team."
Unlike the first set, the Skylights opened the second set with a 4-2 lead. However, the Bulldogs came back this time to tie the set, 5-5. Over the next few minutes, the teams exchanged leads as neither could create momentum. MSU-N eventually built themselves a 21-19 lead but UMW responded with six straight points to win the set, 25-21, for a 2-0 lead in the match. Even though the Bulldogs only needed one more set to win the match, Wagner was not worried.
"There was never any doubt that we were going to be back in this match," Wagner said. "There was no panic there. They expected to do well. They expected to be good."
Looking to avoid a sweep, MSU-N came out hot to take a 10-5 lead in the third set. Instead of letting the Bulldogs back into the set, the Skylights scored ten straight points to take a 20-5 lead. MSU-N went on to win the set, 25-14, to cut UMW's lead to 2-1 in the match. Wagner believes the Skylights were able to get back into the match because they improved their serving.
"We definitely started passing their serves well and we served the right people. That was an excellent serving effort," Wagner said. "We had them out of system enough and we're going to pounce on that."
The Skylights continued to keep the Bulldogs out of their system in the fourth set. MSU-N jumped out to an early lead and built themselves a 12-6 advantage. The Skylights then scored five straight points to make their lead 17-6. MSU-N eventually won the set, 25-10 to tie the match, 2-2, and force a fifth set.
"Not for one second did they relinquish momentum after they got it," Wagner said about his team in the latter half of the match.
The Skylights and the Bulldogs exchanged runs to start the fifth set. The Skylights scored the first three points of the set but UMW responded with a 5-0 run to take the lead. MSU-N came back and the teams battled it out to a 9-9 tie. But that's when the Skylights grabbed momentum as they ended the night on a 6-1 run to win the set, 15-10, to take the match.
After their losses against Rocky Mountain College and University of Providence to start conference play, Wagner was not satisfied with how his team had been playing. But with their win over UMW, he believes their performance has returned to normal and the Skylights should now hopefully be a tough outing for any team they face the rest of the year.
"They have all the energy they could possibly have and these kids are well conditioned," Wagner said. "I got a good, strong team with some depth and this is a team that anybody would love to coach."
MSU-N volleyball will next play Friday at 7 p.m. on the road at Carroll College and at Montana Tech Saturday.
MSU-Northern def. Western
20-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-10, 15-10
UMW - (kills-aces-blocks) Morgan Kirch 1-2-0; Hailey Anderson 8-0-1; Danyel Martin 11-0-4; Peyton Vogl 4-0-3; Abbey Schwager 1-0-0; Morgan Stenger 8-0-3; Kelsey Goddard 0-0-0; Katie Casagrande 0-0-0; Cady Siemion 0-1-0; KayLee Kopp 1-0-0; Kaiah Moore 0-0-0; Emmah Peterson 0-0-1; Jazi Smith 6-0-0; Rylee Nickodemus 0-2-0; Taylor Petersen 0-0-0; Kaylee Fritz 0-0-0; Kaitlyn White 6-0-2. Totals 46-5-14.
MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Abigail Ellison 5-0-0; Alyssa Pretty Weasel 10-0-2; Alana Graves 10-0-4; Marlee Bender 4-0-2; Rylee Burmester 15-4-3; Emily Feller 7-0-2; Hailie George 0-1-0; Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Elissa Lind 11-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0. Totals 62-5-13.
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