Carroll spikes Northern in Helena

Once again, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team found itself in a tight first set, and a tight match, on the road. But, the Skylights just couldn't get over the hump against a very tough opponent.

Saturday night in Helena, Northern fell to Carroll College in straight sets, by scores of 25-21, 25-17 and 25-21, dropping the Skylights to 2-8 in the Frontier Conference with just one week left in the regular season.

Just as Northern has done all season against the top teams in the league, the Skylights fought hard against the Fighting Saints Saturday night. MSU-N battled Carroll all the way in the first set, but the Saints pushed through and held on for the win.

Carroll was a little more dominant in the second set, but the Skylights came right back and pushed the Saints in the third. However, it just wasn't enough to extend the match.

Northern hit a solid .196, but the Saints hit an outstanding .252 and had 45 kills. They also out-blocked the Skylights 8-3. Cassie Krueger led the MSU-N offense with 10 kills to go along with two aces, while Erin Jensen had nine kills and Korrie Stephenson had eight kills and two solo blocks. Emily Russell finished with 30 assists, while Jessica Wilcox had 11 digs.

Carroll, which improved to 8-2 in the Frontier, got 10 kills each from Emily Sullivan and Paige Montgomery. The Saints also swept the Skylights for the second straight season.

Now, Northern (10-16) will look to wrap up the regular season with two big matches this week. On Thursday night, MSU-N travels to Butte to face Montana Tech, then the Skylights come home for their senior night match against arch rival UGF on Saturday night.

Carroll College def. MSU-Northern

25-21, 25-17, 25-21

MSU- N - (kills-aces-blocks) Erin Jensen 9-0-0; Cydney Auzenne 2-0-0; Jessica Wilcox 3-0-0; Kylie Pasieka 0-0-0; Mikayla Virostek 2-0-0; Cassie Krueger 10-2-1; Jacy Vining 0-0-0; Korrie Stephenson 8-0-2; Emily Russell 2-0-0. Totals 36-2-3.0

CC - (kills-aces-blocks) Rayna Pilgeram 0-1-0; Madeleine Fey 0-0-0; Catherine Sloan 0-0-0; Jonni Dorr 1-1-0; Emily Sullivan 10-1-2; Holly Morehouse 5-0-0; Kylie Dirham 0-0-0; Natalie Kassa 0-0-0; Mallory Arbizzani 1-0-2; Paige Montgomery 10-0-1; Marija Nicksic 6-0-2; Crystal Schmidt 8-0-2; Brielle Bumgarner 4-0-3; Rebecca Sweeney 0-0-0. Totals 45-3-8.0.