Skylights swept at home by Argonauts

Coming off of a strong win over Rocky Mountain College, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team looked to carry that momentum into a Wednesday-night match at Armory Gymnasium against the University of Providence. The Argonauts entered the match undefeated in conference play and looked to keep it that way when they played the Skylights.

At the end of Wednesday night, it was the Argonauts who maintained momentum as they defeated MSU-N, 3-0, by scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-20. Against such a tough opponent, MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner does not believe the Skylights put their best foot forward.

"We weren't ready to compete at the level we needed to and that's disappointing," Wagner said. "We're still a team that's going to have a few disappointments as we're trying to find our way on a more consistent basis, and we were not ready to go."

The loss dropped the Skylights to 13-10 on the season and 2-4 in the Frontier Conference. The Argonauts improved to 20-2 and stayed undefeated with a 7-0 record in conference play. The Argonauts also swept the season series as they defeated MSU-N, 3-0, earlier this month in Helena. In that previous match, Wagner believes the Skylights came out flat to start the night and that Wednesday's match was no different.

"It was a carbon copy of the last time we played them," Wagner said about Wednesday's match.

The Argonauts came out of the gates hot as they took an early 7-2 lead to start the first set. The Skylights were unable to get their offense going as UP built itself a 22-9 lead. The Skylights were able to grab momentum to end the set on a 6-3 run, but UP held on to win, 25-15, to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

"They're a good defensive team and we did not do a couple of the things that need to be a hallmark of any acceptable effort," Wagner said about the first set. "We did not handle the ball on serve receive well enough to do anything that was going to surprise a very good floor offensive team."

The Skylights came out more competitive to start the second set. Thanks to several kills from Rylee Burmester, the Skylights took an early 6-5 lead. However, they could not hold onto control as UP came roaring back to take a 12-7 lead. Through the rest of the set, the Argonauts kept the Skylights at bay as they went on to win, 25-16, for a 2-0 lead in the match.

After another competitive start, the Skylights fell behind in the third set. UP built itself a 20-15 lead but the Skylights continued to fight. The teams went back and forth but UP ended up winning the set, 25-20, to win the match, 3-0. While the Skylights played better in the second and third sets, Wagner believes there was more his team could have done.

"We may have been passing the ball a little bit better in the second and third set, but I did not think we had anything close to a solid blocking effort, and that makes everything look very much in disarray," Wagner said. "They're really good when they get another team out of system and we just couldn't stay in system."

Burmester had another strong night for the Skylights as she led the team with 17 kills. Emily Feller led the team with 34 assists and 10 digs. Elissa Lind also recorded ten digs for the Skylights. MSU-N only has three more matches before the postseason conference tournament begins next month. As the Skylights move forward from this loss, Wagner hopes they learned how hard it is to compete in the Frontier Conference.

"We can take away how hard it is to play as well as we were capable of. It's not something that anybody can turn on," Wagner said.

The Skylights will head on the road to play Montana Western Saturday at 2 p.m.

University of Providence def. MSU-Northern

25-15, 25-16, 25-20

UP - (kills-aces-blocks) Taylor Christensen 0-0-0; Sadie Lott 9-1-2; Sacha Legros 0-0-0; Madysen Hoerner 8-0-3; Jenna Thorne 12-0-1; Zoe Naugle 9-0-7; Cydney Finberg-Roberts 1-0-4; Adysen Burns 0-2-0; Mariah Jardine 5-0-2; Cassi Kopsa 0-0-0. Totals 44-3-19.

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Jada Sudbrack 1-0-1; Elissa Lind 5-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Alana Graves 7-0-1; Marlee Bender 3-0-0; Rylee Burmester 17-0-0; Emily Feller 2-0-2; Hailie George 0-0-0; Abigail Ellison 0-0-0; Alyssa Pretty Weasel 1-0-1; Jessalyn Chviliceck 1-0-0. Totals 37-0-5.