Skylights kennel the Dawgs

The road has been good to the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team so far in Frontier Conference play. And that good fortune continued Thursday night in Dillon.

After three straight losses in the Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights emphatically jumped back into the win column Thursday night with a three-game sweep over the UM-Western Bulldogs. Northern won by scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-20, giving the Skylights a season sweep over Western. Northern also beat the Bulldogs in five sets last month in Havre.

The win also closes out the first half of conference play for the Skylights with a 3-4 league record. Northern is currently in fourth place in the conference standings.

Hitting in recent weeks has been an issue for the Skylights, but they climbed to .161 on Thursday night, with Cassie Krueger hitting a stellar .313. Northern also dugs its heels in defensively against Western, totaling a season-high 11 blocks, racking up 72 digs in just three sets and as a result, holding Western to a dismal .071 hitting night on its end.

Krueger led the offense with 13 kills, while she also tallied 10 digs. Northern had five players in double figures in digs, with Hannah Amtmann at 15, Shania Neubauer at 14, Kylie Pasieka with 13 and Ashley Ponce with 11. Freshman Katia Michelotti also had a big night defensively, with three solo blocks, while Timi Severson finished with seven kills and Neubauer had 25 assists.

The win pushed the Skylights to 10-12 overall heading into their bye week. MSU-N will resume conference play Oct. 20 with a home match against Rocky Mountain College.

MSU-Northern def. Western

25-21, 25-21, 25-20

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Kylie Pasieka 0-1-0; Mikayla Virostek 4-0-4; Cassie Krueger 13-1-2; Haley Yoder 2-0-1; Hannah Amtmann 0-0-0; Timi Severson 7-1-4; Katia Michelotti 3-0-5; Ashley Ponce 0-0-0; Shania Neubauer 1-1-1. Totals 30-4-11.0

UM-W - (kills-aces-blocks) Brianna Hanser 1-0-0; Kelsey Potter 7-0-0; Dylan Fowler 0-0-0; Abagale Croninger 5-0-0; Tessa Miller 7-0-0; Jessica Weber 1-1-0; Kyla Paulsen 5-0-0; Kyra Palmer 2-1-0; Breana Barrios 0-0-0; Kaitlyn Mataya 0-0-0; McKenna Fink 1-0-0; Kylie McCree 6-0-1. Totals 35-2-1.0.