Skylights tested in Butte

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team needed to test itself against NAIA competition. It was time.

And the Skylights found out plenty about themselves this past weekend at the Big Sky Challenge in Butte, where they went 1-3 against tough Cascade Conference opponents.

“It was a good weekend all-in-all,” MSU-N veteran head coach Bill Huebsch said. “Considering that we’re a relatively new team, playing a lot of young players, it was about what I expected. And for the most part, I felt everybody played really well. So I was pleased with how the first weekend went.”

Northern’s lone win came Saturday morning when the Skylights won a battle with the Evergreen State Geoducks. In a close match all the way through, the Skylights won by scores of 25-16, 26-24, 23-25 and 25-20. It was a strong bounce-back win for MSU-N after two tough losses Friday, with Timi Severson and Cassie Krueger combining for 41 kills. Emily Russell also had 42 assists and four aces, while the Skylights tallied a commanding eight blocks.

Northern though, couldn’t quite keep the momentum going Saturday as the Skylights finished the tourney with a loss to nationally ranked Northwest College, by scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-10. Northwest came out firing on all cylinders early and never really let the Skylights find their rhythm. Krueger and Severson each had nine kills in the loss.

The tournament began Friday when the Skylights opened with a close loss to Corban College. Northern struck first winning the first set 25-20, but, a heartbreaking 31-29 loss in the second set seemed to deflate the Skylights, and Corban rolled to wins of 25-14 and 25-18 to close out the match.

MSU-N then had to return to the court Friday evening to take on the powerful Eastern Oregon Mounties, the No. 8 team in the NAIA. And the Mounties showed why they’re ranked so high as they bested the Skylights by scores of 25-16, 25-14 and 25-20. Krueger had eight kills and two aces, while Hannah Amtmann, who had a solid weekend for MSU-N, totaled nine digs.

“We just were a little bit inconsistent,” Huebsch said. “At times, we were streaky good, and at times, we were streaky bad. Teams like Eastern Oregon and Northwest, those are very good teams, and there were times when I thought we played right with both of them. But at other times, we made too many unforced errors and mental mistakes.

“So, it was a little bit of everything,” he continued. “But it was a good first weekend. We played a lot of different rotations and a lot of different kids. And we saw some very good competition. So we’ll take a lot away from this weekend, and learn from all of it going forward.”

The Skylights will now travel to Bellevue, Nebraska, for the tough Bellevue College Tournament this Friday and Saturday.

Corban def. MSU-Northern

20-25, 31-29, 25-14, 25-18

E. Oregon def. MSU-Northern

25-16, 25-14, 25-20

MSU-N – Kills 27 (Cassie Krueger 8), Assists 26 (Emily Russell 21), Aces 2 (Krueger 2), Digs 27 (Hannah Amtmann 9), Blocks 4.

MSU-Northern def. Evergreen St.

25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23

MSU-N – Kills 49 (Timi Severson 16, Cassie Krueger 15), Assists 47 (Emily Russell 42), Aces 9 (Haley Yoder 5, Russell 4), Digs 50 (Hannah Amtmann 17), Blocks 8.

Northwest def. MSU-Northern

25-18, 25-20, 25-10

MSU-N – Kills 28 (Cassie Krueger 9, Timi Severson 9), Assists 28 (Emily Russell 24), Aces 0, Digs 37 (Hannah Amtmann 14), Blocks 7.