Skylights lose tough road matches to end the regular season

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team was hoping to build some steam before the start of postseason play later this week. Instead, Northern lost its final two matches of the volleyball regular season.

The Skylights opened the final weekend of Frontier Conference play with a weep at the hands of No. 18 Montana Tech Friday night in Butte. The Skylights lost in three sets (21-25, 13-25, and 12-25.). Montana Tech got up early in the first set. The Skylights battled back, as Macee Murphy got a kill to take the lead 14-13. Northern kept the lead for a little while, until Chvilicek had an attack error for the Orediggers to take back the lead 20-19. Montana Tech went on a 5-3 run to take the first set. The Orediggers kept the momentum going, as they won the second set 25-13. In the third match, the score went back and forth. Montana Tech went on a 5-1 at the end of the set to take the game.

The Skylights were led by Macee Murphy, who tallied nine kills hitting a percentage of .167. Alyssa Pretty Weasel added six kills with a percentage of .091. Kaitlin Murdock led the team in digs with 14. Emily Feller led the team in assists with 27.

After this loss to Tech, Northern dropped a four-set struggle to Carroll College Saturday afternoon in Helena. The Skylights lost in four sets (16-25, 26-24, 16-25, and 23-26). The Skylights were led by Jessalyn Chvilicek, who tallied 11 kills with a hitting percentage of .200. Macee Murphy added 13 kills and added 11 digs. Kaitlin Murdock led the team in digs with 32. Emily Feller led the team in assists with 46.

With the two losses, Northern finished the regular season with a 3-7 record in Frontier play, which left them in fourth place. Overall, Northern ended the regular season at 11-12 and will now head to the Frontier Conference Tournament Friday-Saturday inn Butte.