Skylights ink two new volleyball standouts

After an outstanding 2011 campaign, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball program has added a pair of new recruits for next fall.

Northern head coach Bill Huebsh recently announced the signing of Lewistown's Erin Jensen and Sandy, Utah native Abby Nicholas.

Jensen, a 5-8 hitter comes to Northern after winning back-to-back Class A state championships for the powerhouse Golden Eagles. She's also the sister of current Skylight player Dayna Jensen. Erin attended Fergus High School with an accumulative GPA of 3.68 and received the Academic All-State awards all four years. in was named 2nd team All-Conference for the 2011 volleyball season.

Erin played club volleyball for Lewistown from 8th grade to her senior year. She has helped with multiple volleyball clinics for 5th and 6th graders and coached at the Fergus summer camp. Erin enjoys playing volleyball any chance she gets and helping others with their skills. Erin has participated on a city league volleyball team for two years. She learned most of her skills from her high school coach, Tara Taylor, and is excited to play on the next level to challenge those skills and make them better.

Jensen, who plans to major in nursing, said she chose Northern because of the small and friendly community it has to offer. Having a sister attending MSU-Northern, Erin is looking forward to starting her Skylight experiences with her and the rest of the team.

Nicholas is a6-0 outside hitter who will transfer to Northern from Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo., where she has been a starting rightside hitter as well as outside. Her freshman year at LCCC her team was ranked seventh in the nation for the majority of the year and came in second in the region. Her sophomore year she was 1 of only 3 returning sophomores and a team captain for LCCC. She received 1st Team-All Region in the Region IX Conference as well as 1st team All-Tournament honors.

Attending Riverton High School, she played all four years on the volleyball team. She was the MVP sophomore and junior year. Her senior year she was recognized on the 1st Team All-Region team and received a 5A All-State Honorable Mention. Abby played for High Country Volleyball Club in Salt Lake City, Utah sophomore-senior year. Her club team came in second in the Intermountain Volleyball Region both her 16's and 17's year. Her 17's year she was also able to go to Junior Nationals in Reno, Nevada.

Nicholas picked Northern because of the rising volleyball program as well as the academic opportunity. She hopes to become a better athlete while at MSU-N and help the team to a conference championship. She's also excited at the opportunity to join the nursing program and get started on the way to her career. She has recently been put on the Vice President's Honor Roll at LCCC with a 3.67 GPA in her fall 2011 semester. She thinks that MSU-N will challenge her both on and off the court and is excited for the challenge.

Nicholas

Jensen