MSU-N spikers open the season in Oregon

Two weeks in a hot gym, practicing twice a day. Add in conditioning, weight lifting and everything else that comes with getting ready for a college volleyball season. It's certainly not easy.

But the big payoff comes when the regular season starts and teams get to play against someone other than themselves. And that payoff happens today for the Montana State University-Northern Skylights.

Under seventh-year head coach Bill Huebsch, the Skylights embark on a new season today with two matches at the Eastern Oregon Tournament in LaGrande, Oregon. The Skylights take on Oregon Tech this afternoon and then face nationally ranked Eastern Oregon tonight. Northern has two more matches Saturday.

"This first tournament is a great opportunity for us," Huebsch said. "We're going to see some tough competition, but I feel like all four matches are winnable. But just as important, it's our first chance to really see where we're at. We've had a great preseason, and I feel like we're playing really well. But it's time to play someone else now. I know the girls are really looking forward to it."

The Skylights are also looking forward to moving on from a difficult 7-21 2014 campaign. And Huebsch said his team is more than capable of doing just that. He has outstanding returners in Erin Jensen, Jessica Wilcox, Cydney Auzenne and Kylie Pasieka, but he also brought in a host of talented newcomers. The likes of Cassie Krueger, Rebecca Egan, Emily Russell, Korrie Stephenson, Jacy Vining and redshirt Mikayla Virostek are all expected to have an immediate impact on the floor for MSU-Northern.

But as much as Northern is brimming with talent and athleticism, Huebsch said that chemistry and communication is what is already inspiring a lot of confidence in his team.

"This team's biggest strength right now is its chemistry," Huebsch said. "These girls have come together really quickly, and if you watch us, I don't think we look like a team that's only been together for two weeks. They have really bonded on and off the court. They really support and push each other, and they work really hard each and every day. It's a really fun group to coach and when you have so much chemistry, like this team has already, it's really exciting to see, and it makes the start of a new season really exciting. I know they're looking forward to getting out on the road and competing, and I'm looking forward to watching this team, because I think they'll just get better and better as the season goes on."

Of course, chemistry will only take a team so far, and Huebsch said that both offensively, and defensively his team is playing well, but also has plenty of room to grow, and that's what these first four weeks are all about.

"I think we're passing the ball at a really high level right now," he said. "Offensively, we've looked pretty good in practice. Overall, as a team, I feel like we're doing a lot of things well offensively right now, and the exciting part is, we can get even better.

"Same thing defensively," he continued. "I like our blocking so far, I like our presence at the net. We're executing pretty well in practice. And what's great about that is, they know they can get better and they want to get better every day."

And getting better is what it's all about. With Northern set to open the Frontier Conference season Sept. 17 against league favorite Lewis-Clark State in Havre, Huebsch has four weeks to get his team ready for the rigors of conference play.

Those four weeks include this weekend's tourney in Oregon, four matches next week in Helena, a trip to the Bellevue University Tournament in Nebraska, and a visit to the Jamestown College Tournament in North Dakota. In all four tournaments, Northern will play at least one opponent ranked in the NAIA Top 25, but the schedule also won't be quite as daunting as the one last year, where Northern played eight nationally ranked teams in just three weeks.

"I really like the way the preseason sets up for us," Huebsch said. "We're going to see a variety of teams and a variety of styles. We'll play at least one ranked team at each tournament and that really gives us a chance to make a name for ourselves.

"The other thing about our schedule is, we've got a lot of matches that are very winnable," he continued. "We'll be challenged, and it won't be easy, but we can win a lot of these matches, and that gives us the opportunity to win matches, while getting better each week. So this schedule will really be good for us, and the goal is, to, when we get home on Sept. 17 to play LC State, we'll be battled tested. So I really like this schedule, it's challenging but I feel like we're ready for it."

The challenge starts with today's matches against Oregon Tech and No. 6 EOU. On Saturday, MSU-N faces Northwest University and Corban College. Next weekend, the Skylights will be in Helena for the Big Sky Challenge.