Skylights fall to Providence on the road

On Wednesday night in Great Falls, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team was looking for a win against the Frontier Conference rival University of Providence. Instead, the Argonauts got the better of the Skylights as they won in three sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-19).

“I got to give a lot of credit to Providence. They were at home and they played very inspired,” MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner said.

As a team, the Skylights had a hitting percentage of .226. Alyssa Pretty Weasel led the team with eight kills and Macee Murphy contributed seven kills. However, as a team, the Skylights only had two service aces and two total blocks in the match.

The Argos had a strong day on offense with a hitting percentage of .314. They also served well with ten service aces and defended the net with six total blocks. Bailey Christensen led the Argos with 13 kills while Ryann Eddins had 11 kills in the match.

The first set in the match was a competitive back-and-forth. Throughout most of the set, the Skylights and Argos exchanged points and runs with neither team building a sizable lead. Late in the set, it looked like the Skylights had the advantage as they had a 20-18 lead.

But over the next few minutes, the Argos scored seven straight points to win the set, 25-20, to take a 1-0 lead in the match. After a strong start to the set, mistakes doomed the Skylights down the stretch.

“We couldn’t mount any type of offense when it got down to the stretch and that’s been our bugaboo,” Wagner said. “We sure passed poorly at inopportune times.”

After winning the first set, the Argos started the second strong with three quick points. Even after the Skylights scored, the Argos continued to play well to stretch their lead to 8-3. The Skylights kept with it though and were able to cut their deficit to 11-9.

But the Argos retook momentum as they went on a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 18-11. The Skylights responded with a small run to cut the deficit to 19-15, but the Argos closed the set strong to win, 25-17, for a 2-0 lead in the match.

Early in the third set, the Argos jumped out to a 3-1 lead. But this time, the Skylights responded with a 7-1 run to take an 8-4 lead. During this stretch, Jessalyn Chvilicek recorded a pair of kills for the Skylights.

“We had a stretch where we served them off balance a little bit and we passed well,” Wagner said. “I thought we won a lot of long rallies.”

But the Skylights could not hold onto momentum as the Argos again took control. After tying the set, 10-10, the Argos went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 lead. The Skylights scored three straight points in response, but the Argos continued to pull away until they won the set, 25-19, to take the match in three sets.

The loss dropped the Skylights to 11-9 on the season and 3-4 in the Frontier Conference. Since the Skylights defeated the Argos in Havre earlier this month, the teams have now split the season series. It was also the Skylights’ third-straight loss in conference play and they do not have much time to recover this week.

The Skylights will next play Montana Western this Saturday afternoon at Armory Gymnasium. While the Skylights will be coming off a loss to Providence, Wagner believes the Skylights have been playing better and hopes to see that continue this Saturday.

“I think we’re going to play really well at home,” Wagner said. “We’ve been playing really good defense, we’ve been winning a lot of long rallies and we’ve been serving the ball tough enough.”

With this being the Skylights’ final match at home this season, they will hold their senior day to honor their senior class. Along with senior players Kaitlin Murdock and Marlee Bender, the Skylights will honor student assistant coach Shay Waldbillig, who joined the program as a player but had to stop because of injuries.

When Wagner first joined the program, Waldbillig was just a freshman and Murdock and Bender had just committed to the Skylights. Since his time at Northern basically started with theirs, Wagner has seen their impact on the growth of the program.

“They’ve been growing through the bumps and bruises,” Wagner said. “Together, they’ve helped create a very good atmosphere in a team that’s on the rise and people love to play with them. They’ve been stalwarts in the program academically and athletically.”

The Skylights’ opponent, Montana Western, will head into Saturday’s match with a 9-13 overall record and a 1-5 record in the Frontier Conference. The past few weeks have not been kind to them as the Bulldogs have lost four matches in a row. That losing streak started on Oct. 1 in Dillon when MSU-N defeated Western in three sets.

While the Bulldogs have not been successful lately, they still have players that can lead them to victory against the Skylights. Kaylee Kopp leads the Bulldogs with 212 toal kills this season and is averaging 2.72 kills a set.

On defense, Kelsey Goddard will look to make an impact as she leads the Bulldogs with 374 total digs this year. Peyton Vogl has also been a strong performer for the Bulldogs as she leads them with 72 total blocks this fall. With players like this on the Bulldogs’ roster, Wagner expects them to play well offensively on Saturday.

“They have very good hitters in every position and they block really well,” Wagner said. “They offensively play very consistently and they’re hitting a good number all the time.”

The MSU-N volleyball team will get started against Montana Western at Armory Gymnasium on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Providence def. MSU-Northern

25-20, 25-17, 25-19

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Hailie George 1-0-0.5; Alyssa Pretty Weasel 8-0-0; Macee Murphy 7-1-1.0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Jessalyn Chvilicek 6-0-0; Alana Graves 5-0-0; Marlee Bender 5-0-0.5; Emily Feller 1-0-0; Baily Egan 0-0-0. Totals 33-1-2.0.

UP - (kills-aces-blocks) Taylor Christensen 0-0-0; Brooke Luly 0-2-0; Bella Thompson 1-1-1.0; Jenna Thorne 9-0-4.0; Bailey Christensen 13-0-0; Zoe Naugle 6-0-1.0; Ruby Morse 3-5-0; Ryann Eddins 11-0-0; Adysen Burns 2-1-0; Madysen Hoerner 0-0-0; Alayna Hughes 0-1-0. Totals 45-10-6.0.