Northern spikers fall in three at Carroll College

It’s been a tough season for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team. But a silver lining for the Skylights, they get to play their last two Frontier Conference matches of the regular season inside the Armory Gymnasium.

But before the Skylights get to this weekend’s final matches, they had one more road match in league play. Friday night, Northern was swept by Carroll College in Helena, by scores of 25-18, 25-22 and 25-12.

And while Northern suffered another tough sweep in league play, the Skylights actually hung tough with the Fighting Saints. MSU-N had just two less kills than Carroll, equaled the Saints in blocking and was close in the back row, too.

Still, it wasn’t enough as Carroll hit .192, and got eight kills and 13 digs from Lexi Mikkelsen. Rayna Pilegram also served three of Carroll’s nine aces.

Emily Gutierrez paced the Skylights with eight kills, while Jordan O’Connor had seven kills and a block. Hannah Amtmann was also solid with three aces and a match-high 15 digs.

Northern, which is now 0-10 in the Frontier and 1-21 overall, will finish the regular season at home this weekend. The Skylights host Rocky Mountain College Friday night and UM-Western on senior day Saturday afternoon.

Carroll def. MSU-Northern

25-18, 25-22, 25-12

MSU-N - Kills 32 (Emily Gutierrez 8), Assists 28 (McKaylie Tanner 15), Aces 5 (Hannah Amtmann 3), Digs 57 (Hannah Amtmann 15), Blocks 7 (Jordan O'Connor 1).

CC - Kills 34 (Lexi Mikkelsen 8), Assists 31 (Rayna Pilgeram 27), Aces 9 (Pilegram 3), Digs 59 (Mikkelsen 13), Blocks 14.