Skylights swept in Frontier openers

It’s been a long road trip for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team. The trip started Aug. 23, and it concluded with two Frontier Conference losses this past weekend.

Northern began Frontier play last Thursday night in Lewiston, Idaho, where the Skylights were swept by Lewis-Clark State by scores of 25-21, 25-21 and 25-15.

The conference-opener was a good battle for two sets, as the Skylights made the Warriors work to put them away. However, LCSC picked up the hitting efficiency in the third en route to the sweep.

The Warriors finished with 40 kills to just 21 for MSU-N, while they also had six blocks and two aces. MSU-N got eight kills apiece from Elissa Lind and Rylee Burmester in the loss.

Things didn’t get any easier for the Skylights when they got back to Montana either.

Saturday night, MSU-N dropped a three-setter to nationally ranked Montana Tech in Butte. The Orediggers won by scores of 25-20, 25-9 and 25-15, as Tech turned a close first set into a blowout win. Lind and Burmester combined for 11 kills for the Skylights, while Shania Neubauer had five kills and Hailey Warren had 13 assists and 12 digs.

The loss Saturday night dropped Northern to 0-2 in the Frontier and 6-9 overall. Now however, MSU-N finally gets to come home, as the Skylights host nationally ranked Providence on Wednesday night in the Armory Gymnasium.

LC State def. MSU-Northern

25-21, 25-21, 25-15

MSU-N - Kills 21 (Lind 8, Burmester 8), Assists 20 (Warren 17), Aces 3 (Neubauer 1, Warren 1, Burmester 1), Digs 38 (Lind 14), Blocks 2.

LCSC - Kills 40 (Edwards 10, Assists 39 (Remick 20), Aces 7 (Brown 5), Digs 46 Brown 11), Blocks 6.

Montana Tech def. MSU-Northern

25-20, 25-9, 25-16

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Hailey Warren 1-0-1; Katia Michelotti 3-0-1; Shania Neubauer 5-1-2; Rylee Burmester 5-1-0; Marlee Bender 0-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Elissa Lind 6-0-0; Tammy Maddock 1-0-2. Totals 21-2-3.0.

MT - (kills-aces-blocks) Hannah Oggerino 0-2-0; Maureen Jessop 8-0-1; Sabrina Hopcroft 0-0-0; Kamaile Moody 0-0-0; Emma Carvo 0-0-0; Heather Thompson 8-0-3; McKenna Kaelber 2-0-0; Portia Cortner 0-0-0; Karina Mickelson 2-4-2; Sydney Parks 9-0-3; Hudsyn DiBrito 0-0-0; Gena McMillan 10-2-3; Kiya Looby 3-0-0. Totals 42-8-6.0.