Three Skylights earn Frontier postseason honors

Three Montana State University-Northern volleyball players earned Frontier Conference postseason honors.

Seniors Tanja Bruski of Billings and Mitsu Phillips of Great Falls both earned Frontier Conference honorable mention for their performance this season.

Bruski, who earned all-conference honors last season, led Northern with 96 blocks and 46 aces on the season. Bruski finished second in the conference in hitting percentage at close to 30 percent and finishing with 192 kills on the season.

After missing last season, Phillips returned to lead Northern in kills with 280 in 94 games with a 25 percent hitting percentage.

Kruse, a true freshman from Huntley, was named to the Frontier Conference all-freshman team. She led Northern in digs with 532 and several 30 dig matches this season.

Frontier Conference tournament champion Carroll College picked up much of the postseason hardware. Senior Mary Lester was named the conference's most valuable player. Middle hitter Tiffany Rochelle was named freshman of the year while head coach Amy Hueiser was named coach of the year.

Montana Tech's Marrin Audet was named newcomer of the year while Kaila Minehan picked up the defensive specialist of the year award.

All-Frontier Conference volleyball team

MVP - Mary Lester, Carroll College.

Coach of the Year - Amy Heuiser, Carroll College

Defensive Specialist of the Year - Kaila Minehan, Montana Tech

Newcomer of the Year - Marrin Audet, Montana Tech

Freshman of the Year - Tiffany Rochelle, Carroll College

First Team

Mary Lester, Carroll, 5-foot-11, sr, outside hitter, Great Falls; Marrin Audet, Montana Tech, 6-0, frosh, outside hitter, Whitefish; Kim Condor, Lewis-Clark St., 5-8, sr, outside hitter, Puyallup, Wash.; Amy Flaig, Lewis-Clark St., 5-11, sr, middle blocker, Missoula; Katy Furlong, Rocky Mountain, 5-10, sr, middle blocker, Missoula; and Katherine Sunwall, Montana-Western, 6-1, soph, middle blocker, Great Falls.

Second Team

Becky Hancock, Montana Tech, 5-6, jr, setter, Livingston; Krista Heavirland, Carroll, 5-10, sr, middle hitter, Columbia Falls; Lindsay Iroume, Lewis-Clark St., 5-10, sr, setter, Morinville, Alberta; Lena Mortensen, Carroll, 5-9, jr, outside hitter, Helena; Kasey Smith, Western, 5-11, sr, middle blocker, Corvallis and Janalee Stokken, Montana Tech, 6-0, jr, middle blocker, Lewistown.

Honorable Mention

Angela Bausch, Tech, 5-10, sr, middle blocker, Livingston; Tanja Bruski, MSU-Northern, 5-10, sr, outside hitter, Billings; Anna Johnson, Lewis-Clark St., 5-8, jr, setter, Junction City, Ore.; Kaila Minehan, Tech, 5-8, sr, defensive specialist, Richland Hills, Texas; Mitsu Phillips, MSU-Northern, 5-10, sr, outside hitter, Great Falls; Tiffany Rochelle, Carroll, 6-2, frosh, middle hitter, Casper, Wyo.; Emily Smith, Western, 5-8, sr, setter, Sandpoint, Idaho and Nicole Woolard, Carroll, 6-0, jr, middle hitter, Philipsburg.

All-Freshman Team

Courtney Arthurn, Rocky Mountain, 5-10, middle blocker, Wilsall; Rachel Bulcher, Western, outside hitter, Hansen, ID; Jenny Finlay, Western, 5-11, outside hitter, Riverton, UT; Nicole Kruse, MSU-Northern, 5-4, libero, Huntley; Stacie Papanikolas, Westminster, outside hitter, Salt Lake City; Katie Polette, Carroll, 5-7, setter, Helena; Tiffanie Rochelle, Carroll, 6-2, middle blocker, Casper, Wyo.; Natalie Solomon, Carroll, 5-9, middle hitter, Billings.