Skylights defeat the Argonauts in their return home

After several weekends on the road, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team was finally back home at Armory Gymnasium Wednesday night with a match against the University of Providence. Looking for their first conference win this season, the Skylights made the most of their return home as they defeated the Argonauts in four sets (27-25, 25-22, 14-25, 25-19).

"It was definitely a team effort. We needed everybody to make small gains," MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner said. "This particular team. It's their energy and I thought we had the lion's share of all the long rallies and that's a testament to how hard this team worked."

Many Skylights played well in their return to Armory Gymnasium. Alyssa Pretty Weasel led the team with 13 kills and 3.5 total blocks. Jessalyn Chvilicek also played well with 12 kills in the match. Alana Graves and Macee Murphy each recorded eight kills to help the Skylights win the match.

The Argos took momentum early in the first set as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Skylights responded with an 8-4 run to tie the set 10-10. Murphy got the run started with a kill and a service ace back to back.

The Skylights continued to play well with a 6-3 run to take a 16-13 lead. But the Argos recovered and responded with an 8-1 to push out ahead for a 21-17 lead. The Skylights came right back at them with another run to tie the set at 22-22.

The Skylights and Argos went on to exchange points and chances to win the set over the next few minutes. The Argos took a 25-24 lead with the chance to win the set. But the Skylights responded to score three straight points to win the set, 27-25, to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Argos had a chance to win the set, but a service error allowed the Skylights to take control to close the set.

"They lost momentum right there and we had it the rest of the way," Wagner said. "We had a little crack and we found it and took advantage."

Just like the first set, the Skylights and Argos went back and forth throughout the second set. After a 3-3 tie early in the set, the Skylights went on a run to take a 9-6 lead. Murphy was a key part of the run with a pair of kills as well as a service ace.

As usual, the Argos came right back with a 4-0 run of their own to retake the lead. The Skylights swung right back at them with three straight points to take a 12-10 lead. Over the next few minutes, the Skylights and Argos exchanged points to the point the Skylights only had a 17-16 lead in the set.

The Skylights went on a run to stretch their lead. Thanks to a few kills from Chvilicek, the Skylights were able to extend their lead to 22-17. But even with the larger lead, the Skylights struggled to close it out.

The Argos went on a run as they tried to steal the set from the Skylights. At one point, the Argos had cut their deficit to 23-22. But the Skylights made it through the storm as they scored two straight points to win the set, 25-22, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Looking to stay alive in the match, the Argos jumped out to a 8-0 lead to start the third set. The Skylights tried to claw their way back as they cut the deficit down to 10-6. But the Argos' big lead helped them keep distance as they went on to win the set, 25-14, to force a fourth set.

"If you take a little breath and start thinking about how great it feels, you're not on the next play and it unfortunately spirals," Wagner said about the Skylights' start to the third set. "They seized the moment and we gave them an opportunity to grab some momentum."

With one team looking to close it out and one team looking to keep its hopes alive, the points went back and forth to start the fourth set. Early on, neither team could take momentum as it wound up tied 10-10.

The Skylights finally took momentum as they went on an 8-1 run to take an 18-11 lead. Multiple Skylights made plays during the run, such as Graves with a pair of kills and an assisted block. Chvilicek also contributed a pair of kills during this stretch.

"We seized the momentum and kept it," Wagner said. "There's a lot of fight in this group. Always has been and we've worked through some things and I like our demeanor right now."

The Argos tried to fight their way back into the set but the Skylights held them off to win the set, 25-19, to take the match in four sets. With the win, the Skylights improved to 9-6 on the season and 1-1 in Frontier Conference competition.

The Skylights had been dealing with some adversity over the past few weeks. In the Preseason Frontier Conference Tournament, the Skylights went 0-4 in their matches. They then lost to Rocky Mountain College on the road last weekend to start conference play. Now with a win in conference play, Wagner believes the Skylights should be more consistent going forward.

"We fortunately had that tournament before we got to conference (play) to try to steady the ship and we did," Wagner said. "I'm super proud of how we came about doing that."

The MSU-N volleyball team will look to carry momentum from this win into its match against Montana Western in Dillon Saturday at noon.

MSU-Northern def. Providence

27-25, 25-22, 14-25, 25-19

UP - (kills-aces-block) Brook Luly 0-2-0; Bella Thompson 0-1-4.5; Jenna Thorne 10-0-0.5; Jensyn Turner 4-0-0.5; Zoe Naugle 8-0-6; Ruby Morse 4-1-1.5; Taylor Christensen 0-1-0; Madysen Hoerner 0-0-0; Taylor VanDermars 0-0-0; Bailey Christensen 2-0-2; Kendra Pope 2-0-0; Ryann Eddins 8-0-0; Cassi Kopsa 1-0-0; Karly Stromberg 0-0-0. Totals 39-5-15.0.

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Baily Egan 0-0-0; Alyssa Pretty Weasel 13-0-3.5; Macee Murphy 8-3-0; Alana Graves 8-0-2.5; Marlee Bender 3-0-3; Emily Feller 3-0-1; Hailie George 0-1-0; Kaitlin Murdock 1-0-0; Jessalyn Chviliceck 12-0-0; Maddison Underdal 1-0-0. Totals 49-4-10.0.