Bears roar past Skylights

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights didn't show any signs of rust, even after having not played since an Oct. 6 win over UM-Western. Unfortunately, the Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears weren't rusty either.

Northern and Rocky returned from the annual Frontier Conference bye week, with a match inside the Armory Gymnasium Friday night. And while the Skylights came out swinging, they were just no match for the 21st-ranked Bears. Rocky swept Northern by scores of 25-19, 25-10 and 25-17, taking the season series from the Skylights in the process.

And while the scores were lopsided, the match didn't start out that way. Rocky inched out to a 6-3 lead in the first set, but the Skylights battled taking an early lead on a three-point flurry that saw a kill from Timi Severson, another by Mikayla Virostek and a team block by the duo.

From there, much of the set was a back-and-forth affair. Rocky went back in front, but when Katia Michelotti registered two straight tip kills, the Skylights found themselves leading 17-15, and with excellent blocking, Northern was thwarting the dangerous RMC attack.

From that point however, the Bears showed why they have stormed their way into the NAIA Top 25. Rocky rattled off a 9-0 run, and back-to-back kills by Sydney Matheny ended the first set.

But Rocky's power didn't end there. In the second set, the Skylights could do little to slow down the Bears, as they ripped off runs of 10-0 to build a 12-2 lead, and 7-0 to end the set. In the short set, the Bears hit a scorching .455, and while Northern's block held the Bears at bay a little in the third, Rocky never faltered. The Bears scored the last eight points of the third set to win going away and drop the Skylights to 3-5 in the Frontier Conference.

For the match Rocky hit .241, despite the Skylights finishing with eight blocks and 51 digs. Olivia L'Ami led the Bears with 11 kills, while Tess Hellerud was big in the middle, with eight kills and three blocks.

Offensively, Northern hit .113, with much of its success coming in the first set. Cassie Krueger had another strong match with 13 kills and 11 digs, while Severson finished with six kills and a solo block. Virostek also had two solo blocks, while Hannah Amtmann added 20 digs. Serving was also an issue for Northern. The Skylights didn't have an ace, while RMC had four.

And while things didn't go as planned against the red-hot Bears, who haven't lost in conference play since falling to Montana Tech back on Sept. 23, the Skylights are still in a strong position in the Frontier standings. But Northern's next match will be a huge one if the Skylights want to stay in the top half of the league, as they host rival the University of Providence, who trails MSU-N by a single game.

The match between the Skylights and Argos will take place Thursday night inside the Armory Gymnasium. It will senior night at MSU-N and the Skylights' final home match of the season.

Rocky Mountain def. MSU-Northern

25-19, 25-10, 25-17

RMC – Kills 43 (Olivia L'Ami 11), Assists 43 (Natalie Hilderman 39), Aces 4 (Four with one each), Digs 55 (Hailey Copinga 17), Blocks 6 (Tess Hellerud 3).

MSU-N – Kills 28 (Cassie Krueger 13), Assists 27 (Shania Neubauer 26), Aces 0, Digs 51 (Hannah Amtmann 20, Krueger 11), Blocks 8 (Mikayla Virostek 2).