Argos overpower struggling Skylights

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team took a step forward when the Skylights won a tough four-setter against UM-Western last Saturday in Dillon. But in their own gym a week later, the Skylights might have taken a step back.

Playing the first of three straight matches at home, the Skylights were bounced in three sets by arch rival University of Great Falls Saturday night. In the Armory Gymnasium, the Argos beat the Skylights by scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-21.

The loss dropped Northern to a tough 1-6 in the Frontier Conference, while UGF improved to 4-3 heading into the conference bye week. It was also UGF's first win in Havre in three seasons, and while Northern head coach Bill Huebsch has seen his young team improve week by week, he didn't see a lot to take away from Saturday night's match.

"It's frustrating," Huebsch said. "I'm frustrated for them because I know they're capable of so much more than they showed tonight. I know they are a much better team than they showed tonight, and that's very frustrating."

The frustration set in early as UGF took command right away.

The Argos, which are the second-best hitting team in the Frontier, went on a 5-0 run early in the first set, and Northern was unable to answer. UGF hit an astounding .424 in the set, and Madison Wilhelm had six of her match-high 16 kills in the first as well. UGF led by as many as 10 points, and back-to-back Erin Jensen kills late in the first game did little to slow the Argos down.

The second set was much of the same. UGF quickly jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Skylights did show some signs of life as they went on a 7-1 run to pull within 14-12 midway, though. The scoring spree was sparked by kills from Taylor Woolman and Dayna Jensen, and capped by a Jensen ace. But from there, the Argos came right back. Two blocks by Alyssa McEwan and two more kills by Wilhelm, and the Argos were back in front 21-16, and they gave up just two more points the rest of the way.

"The first two sets, we just didn't have any consistency, and we just didn't play well as a team," Huebsch said. "We had no presence at the net, and UGF has very good hitters, and they took advantage of that.

"But in the third set, we finally started blocking like we were capable of," he continued. "And you saw us play much better. We were in that set, we were very competitive and we were playing well. But at the end it went away again, and UGF put us away. So it all comes down to consistency. We have flashes of really good play, and we did tonight. But it's just not consistent enough."

The Skylights did indeed make a game of it down 2-0. Cydney Auzenne came off the bench and put up a big solo block that seemed to ignite Northern. The Skylights would hold leads at 6-5, 8-7 and 11-10 and the fight was finally on.

Up 11-10, back-to-back kills by Auzenne and Woolman gave Northern its biggest lead of the night at 13-10. But UGF again had an answer, and that answer was Wilhelm, the 2013 Frontier Freshman of the Year. She has three straight kills, and UGF took the lead away for good at 15-14. Northern continued to keep it close, but the Argos went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-18 lead, and eventually, they put the Skylights away for good.

UGF's offense racked up 49 kills and hit a blistering .330 for the match, all the while racking up seven blocks, including four solo blocks from McEwan. Northern on the other hand, was just the opposite offensively. The Skylights hit .105 and had just 28 kills. Erin Jensen led with seven, while Woolman had six and Dayna Jensen tallied five. Woolman, a freshman, had a strong match, while Dayna Jensen added three blocks. Jaden Lynch totaled 14 assists and nine digs.

With the tough home loss, the Skylights fell to 5-15 overall, and will need to regroup as the Frontier Conference takes a week off. Northern returns to action Oct. 17 against Lewis-Clark State and Oct. 18 against Montana Tech. Both matches will be at the Armory Gymnasium.

Great Falls def. MSU-Northern

25-16, 25-18, 25-21

UGF – Kills 49 (Madison Wilhelm 16, Alyssa McEwan 10, Brittany Sharpe 10), Assists 48 (Dano Norling 43), Aces 5 (Jacey Habets 2), Digs 44 (Wilheml 11, Gabby Bienkowski 11), Blocks 7 (McEwan 4).

MSU-N – Kills 28 (Erin Jensen 7, Taylor Woolman 6), Assists 25 (Jaden Lynch 14, Janelle Hoff 10), Aces 3 (Dayna Jensen 3), Digs 36 (Lynch 9), Blocks 4 (D. Jensen 3).