Orediggers too much for improving Northern spikers

The Montana State University-Northern volleyball team nearly took a big next step last Saturday night at home. And while they tried their hardest to take that step Thursday night, Montana Tech wouldn't let it happen.

In a Frontier Conference match Thursday night in the Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights fell to the No. 18 Orediggers, 25-20, 25-16 and 25-16. And while the final score said sweep, for much of the match, it felt like anything but.

"We're progressing," MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner said. "We are making a lot of progress, and there were a lot of things I saw tonight, especially in that first set, that tells me, we're getting there. But, at the same time, this is the second time around seeing these teams, and we need to shift gears. We need to go out and expect to win, and we need to go out there and put up consistently good play on a regular basis."

The Skylights looked like a team expecting to win in an entertaining first set. Northern did fall behind the Orediggers early on, as Karina Mickelson pounded the ball right at the MSU-N defense. However, trailing 16-7, the Skylights started to chip away at Tech. Hailey Warren and Tammy Maddock got a couple of side-outs for the Skylights and when Rylee Burmester smashed a ball cross court, after a furious rally and some huge saves from the MSU-N back row, Northern had pulled to within 18-16. Things got even closer when Katie Murdock served an ace to make it 21-19, but from there, the Orediggers finally put MSU-N away.

Of course, Northern didn't sop showing resiliency there however. The Skylights fell behind 7-1 in the second set, but kills from Burmester and Shania Neubauer sparked a run that pulled the Skylights to within 11-9. It was another great response by the Skylights, and while the Orediggers would go on to finish them off in similar fashion in the second and third sets, respectively, Northern's head coach still took notice of how well his team played.

"They gave everything they had tonight," Wagner said. "I thought even in the second set, we were right there, but we had three errors in a row, and you just can't do that against team like Tech. But the effort, the intensity, it's there. It's been there, and we're getting closer to where we want to be."

In the loss, the Skylights got eight kills and six digs from Burmester, while Neubauer had five kills and 12 digs. Warren finished with 19 assists, while Murdock finished with 17 digs. Tech, which improved to 5-3 and swept Northern for the season, hit an astounding .261 and got 13 kills each from Mickelson and Maureen Jessop. Tech also out-blocked Northern a whopping 11-1.

Now, Northern (0-7, 6-14) will look to rebound when the Skylights turn around and host Lewis-Clark State tonight at 7 in the Armory.

"We're going to get there,'" Wagner said. "We've been meeting goals throughout the season, so we're making progress. Now, it's a mentality though. It's a mentality that, we know we can do it, we just have to go out and do it."

Montana Tech def. MSU-Northern

25-20, 25-16, 25-16

MT - Kills 45 (Mickelson 13, Jessop 13, McMillan 10), Assists 40 (Kaebler 34), Aces 5 (McMillan 3), Digs 58 (Hopcroft 15), Blocks 11 (Jessop 5).

MSU-N - Kills 24 (Burmester 8), Assists 23 (Warren 19), Aces 5 (Murdock 2), Digs 50 (Murdock 17, Neubauer 12), Blocks 1.