Skylights beat Bulldogs in a grueling five sets

Life on the road is never easy in the Frontier Conference. And the UM-Western Bulldogs made the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team's visit to Dillon especially difficult.

But the Skylights came to Dillon on Thursday night on a three-match conference winning streak, and though they were pushed to the limit, they marched out of Dillon still unbeaten in conference play.

Northern beat the Bulldogs in five grueling sets by scores of 25-23, 25-19, 15-25, 23-25 and 15-11.

Western, which is now 0-4 in league play, stormed back from a 2-0 deficit and actually led 9-8 in the fifth set. But the Skylights got back-to-back stuff blocks from Victoria Polo and Abby Nicholas, which led to a final 7-2 scoring run and a win that kept them tied atop the Frontier Conference standings.

Northern out-hit the bulldogs, but Western had two more kills. The Skylights racked up a total of 51 kills with Nicholas recording 15 and Hillary Isleifson adding 14. Isleifson also had 14 digs, while the Skylights were stellar at the net, recording a season-high 14 blocks. Polo had four blocks on her own, while Joni Nagy totaled two blocks to go along with 28 assists and two aces. Holly Cartwright added 23 digs in the win.

Northern is now 4-0 in league play and 10-8 overall, heading into a big match with Westminster College Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City. The Skylights return home to face Montana Tech next Thursday and Lewis-Clark State on Friday night.