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It's finally Armory time for the Skylights

After falling at RMC Thursday night, MSU-N spikers ready to host UM-Western on Saturday

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team is ultra-excited to finally be playing at home, when the Skylights take on the UM-Western Bulldogs Saturday afternoon.

But before Northern got home, the Skylights had to endure a rough night in Billings.

MSU-N opened Frontier Conference play Thursday night with a three-game sweep at the hands of Rocky Mountain College. The Battlin' Bears defeated the Skylights by scores of 25-10, 25-12 and 25-16.

Rocky, which is picked to again be one of the top teams in the conference this season, dominated the match from start to finish. The Bears hit a stellar .272 with 41 kills to just 22 for the Skylights. RMC also served up seven aces and had 20 more digs than Northern. Olivia L'Ami and Daniella Russell combined for 23 kills for the Bears, while Ruby Kallenbach served three aces.

Northern, which fell to 6-9 overall and 0-1 in league play, got eight kills and eight digs from senior Cassie Krueger, while Hannah Amtmann tallied 12 digs.

And while Thursday's Frontier opener was a rough one for the Skylights, it won't change how much they're looking forward to playing in the Armory for the first time.

"Unbelievably excited," sophomore Haley Yoder said of Saturday's match. "Playing at home is the best. You know your friends are gonna be there. You know how much the community and the school comes out and supports us, and having been here for a year now, I know how loud our fans get, so it just has me so excited for that first match of the year. I just can't wait."

Of course, Western will have something to say about the match as well. The Bulldogs are a much-improved team this season. They return standout DS Dylan Fowler (5-5) and OH Kylie McCree (6-1). Both are having big seasons thus far. But Western has also built a taller team than in years past, while still having plenty of attacking power on the outside. Tessa Miller (MB, 6-0) and Kelsey Potter (OH, 5-8) are two offensive powerhouses for the Bulldogs, while Kyra Palmer (RS, 5-9) is also a weapon. And in Western's 6-2 rotation, setters Kiarra Johnson (5-6) and McKenna Fink (5-8) are both playing well.

And while Saturday's match will be a tough one, as is the case with every match in the Frontier, it will not only be special to the Skylight players, but also to new head coach Rose Obunaga. It will be her first match as head coach of the Skylights inside the Armory.

"I'm very excited," Obunaga said. "We've had some long, exhausting trips. So it will be nice for the girls to play at home, and especially to play in front of the fans and the community. The disadvantage to that is the girls might feel a little more pressure to do well, but I know they're looking forward to it, and playing at home is going to be a great experience for them."

Northern meets Western at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Armory Gymnasium. The Skylights are also back home to take on Carroll College next Friday night.

Rocky Mountain def. MSU-Northern

25-10, 25-12, 25-16

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Kylie Pasieka 1-0-0; Mikayla Virostek 3-0-2; Cassie Krueger 8-1-1; Hailey Warren 0-0-0; Haley Yoder 0-0-0; Hannah Amtmann 0-0-0; Timi Severson 4-0-2; Katia Michelotti 2-0-2; Ashley Ponce 0-0-0; Shania Neubauer 4-0-1. Totals 22-1-4.0

RMC - (kills-aces-blocks) Tess Hellerud 5-0-1; Ruby Kallenbach 0-3-0; Hailey Copinga 7-0-4; Krista Judisch 0-0-0; Andraya Hawks 4-0-0; Annie Cooke 0-0-0; Daniella Russell 10-0-0; Holland Fergurson 0-0-0; Jalyn Anderle 0-2-0; Olivia L'Ami 13-0-1; Sydney Matheny 2-0-4; Natalie Hilderman 0-2-1. Totals 41-7-6.0.

 

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