Skylights lose volleyball heartbreakers

After building some momentum, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team suffered a pair of tough setbacks last weekend.

The Skylights volleyball team lost to No. 19 Montana Tech last week in Havre. The Skylights lost against the Orediggers in five sets (23-25, 25-22, 25-15, 27-29, and 15-13). The first set was anyone's game, as the Skylights went on a 6-1 run to end the set up 25-23. The second set went back and forth until Tech went on a 7-1 run to take the lead back 20-18. They finished strong taking the second set.

Montana Tech took the lead early in the third and never looked back. In the fourth set, the points went back and forth, as the Skylights put together a couple runs to take the set. The fifth set was a close set, as the Orediggers finished 4-1 run to take the match.

The Skylights were led by Jessalyn Chvilicek with 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .237. Macee Murphy had 13 kills. Murphy led the team in digs with 24. Emily Feller led the Skylights with 25 assists. The Orediggers was led by Olivia Labeau with 23 kills hitting a percent of .455. Jelena Joblanov led the team in digs with 22, as Rhys Layton led in assists with 62.

Northern was back in the Armory Gymnasium last Saturday, but again, the Skylights came up short. On Senior night, the Skylights lost to the Carroll Colllege Fighting Saints in four sets (25-23, 24-26, 25-12, and 25-15). The first set was good competition, as the Fighting Saints were able to get score 3-1 to take the set. The Skylights got hot in the second set taking the lead 16-8. Carroll went on a run to tie the game up 19-19. But Northern stuck with it to take the second set. Carroll took the lead early in the third set and never looked back. The Saints put together some big runs in the fourth set to take the match.

The Skylights were led by Alana Graves with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .229. Jessalyn Chvillcek had 11 kills. Baily Egan led the team in digs with 28. Macee Murphy led the Skylights with 23 assists. The Saints were led by Elizabeth Heuiser with 19 kills hitting a percent of .409. Julia Carr led the team in digs with 22, as Hannah Schweikert led in assists with 48.

After the two home losses, the Skylights fell to 3-8 in the Frontier Conference and 11-12 overall. The Skylights playedtheir final home game when they hosted Rocky Mountain College on Wednesday night. They travel to Montana Western on Saturday.