Northern spikers ready for a big rematch in Great Falls

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team righted the ship on the road last weekend.

Now the Skylights will try and take a big step forward.

Northern will play its biggest match in quite some time when the Skylights travel to Great Falls tonight to take on the University of Great Falls Argos in a Frontier Conference showdown. Northern (5-4, 13-8) and UGF (5-4, 20-5) are tied for fourth place in the Frontier Conference standings and both teams are just a game out of third place. The winner of tonight's tilt will have the leg up on finishing in the top four which is important for seeding at the Frontier Conference tournament next month in Butte.

There will also be some heat to tonight's match inside the McLaughlin Center. Northern bested the Argos in five thrilling games last month in Havre. At the time UGF was nationally ranked and had just one loss on the season. Since that time, both teams have struggled some, but now the Argos and Skylights meet again with plenty at stake.

"It's a big match, and a big opportunity for our team to really make some headway in the conference," Northern head coach Bill Huebsch said. "I'm sure they (Argos) will be fired up and looking at this match as one they really want to win. We played a great match with them the first time around and it was a big win for us. So I'm sure they'll be ready for us."

After the Skylights beat the Argos, they went on a four-match losing streak which didn't end until last Friday night at UM-Western. Now Northern is on a two-match winning streak after also beating Montana Tech last Saturday in Butte. And while Huebsch said his team didn't quite play its best volleyball last weekend, it was a good step in the right direction and he's excited about how the Skylights could possibly do down the stretch.

"It was really good for us to get that feeling of winning back," Huebsch said. "And the big thing was, we got better as the weekend and each game went on. That's what you want to see. By the end of the weekend, I was pretty pleased with how we were playing. We're starting to get back to playing at the level we were at back in September."

Hillary Isleifson continues to lead Northern in kills with 204 on the season. Isleifson is having a strong first year in Havre, as she also has 120 assists, 39 blocks and 110 digs. Kelsey Williams has been strong all around as well. Williams has 185 kills and 165 digs on the season, while sophomore Holly Cartwright has 200-plus digs for Northern's defense. Nahe Keanaaina has 539 assists, while senior Sierra Diehl has 100 kills and 39 blocks. Northern also has Paige Richardson back from injury.

But as they were in Havre last month, the Argos will be a huge, attacking opponent. Kelsey Van Uden leads the Frontier in kills and hitting and is also an excellent all-around player. Taylor Lucero also has 247 kills, while Tasha Nunes, Alyssa McEwan and Maggie McCall are all over 100 kills for the season. And, all five players stand 6-0 or better.

"They (Argos) are a very dangerous offensive team," Huebsch said. "They have great size at the net and they put the ball away when they get chances. So our block and our defense will be crucial, as will winning the battle of serve and serve-receive. But just as important, we have to stay mentally tough in this match," he added. "We have to be able to maintain good levels of play, even when things aren't necessarily going our way, and when that happens we cut down on our unforced errors.

"This is a big match," he added. "It's exciting that we've put ourselves in a position to do some really good things this season."

Tonight's match between the Skylights and Argos starts at 7 in Great Falls. Northern returns to Havre for its final home matches of the season next Friday and Saturday.