Tough Orediggers spike Skylights in the Armory

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights are playing some of their best volleyball of this special spring season. But in the always tough Frontier Conference, it still hasn't been enough to get Northern over the hump.

This past weekend, the Skylights dropped a pair of matches to Montana Tech to fall to 1-13 in league play, including a tough battle Friday night.

In that Friday night matchup inside the Armory Gymnasium, the Skylights fell to Tech 3-1, by scores of 25-20, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-17.

In the first three sets, Northern put up a great fight. In the first, the lead changed hands 11 times, as Northern got big points from Rylee Burmester and former Havre Blue Pony Jessa Chvilicek. However, Tech did win the last four points to take a 1-0 lead. The second set played out similarly, with Northern and Tech trading blows early before the Orediggers went on a 6-0 run to get a small lead. Kills by Tammy Maddock and strong defense kept the Skylights in it, but the Diggers were still able to grab a 2-0 lead.

Tech was then thinking sweep, but the Skylights weren't going down without a fight. Trailing 19-15, the Skylights got on a roll with Elissa Lind and Maddock leading the way, and by the time the dust settled on that roll, Northern had turned the tables and outscored the Orediggers 7-0, before Burmester finished off the victory with a thunderous kill.

Gaining momentum, the Skylights would also lead early in the fourth set, but the Diggers went on a 5-0 run midway through, and the Skylights ran out of gas. Still, it was another strong offensive outing for the Skylights as they had 45 kills. Burmester led the with 11 kills and 12 digs, while Lind had 10 kills and 18 digs, and Alana Graves finished with 10 kills. Emily Feller also had 41 assists, two aces and 12 digs, while Maddock and Chvilicek tallied two blocks each.

The Skylights turned around and played Tech again Saturday afternoon, but the Orediggers were unkind guests again. In the rematch, Tech swept Northern by scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-19.

Northern had a miserable hitting day, as the Skylights hit just .010. Lind led the way with nine kills, while Burmester had a match-high 14 digs. Tech meanwhile, hit .232 with 34 kills and also out blocked the Skylights 13-3.

The losses dropped Northern to 1-13 in the Frontier. MSU-N is back in the Armory Friday and Saturday to host Carroll College.

Montana Tech def. MSU-Northern

25-20, 25-19, 21-25, 25-17

MT - (kills-aces-blocks) Hannah Oggerino 0-1-0; Maureen Jessop 16-0-1; Emma Carvo 1-1-0; Taylor Henley 9-0-4; Mckenna Kaelber 4-0-1; Sarah Hopcroft 0-0-0; Karina Mickelson 11-0-5; Sydney Parks 5-0-2; Kiya Loobey 5-0-0; Hudsyn Dibrito 0-0-0; Alexis Umland 0-0-0; Emma Carvo 0-0-0. Totals 51-2-9.0.

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Hailie George 0-0-0; Tammy Maddock 6-0-1; Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Elissa Lind 10-2-0; Kaitlin Murdock 0-0-0; Jessalyn Chvilicek 7-0-3; Alana Graves 10-0-1; Emily Feller 1-2-1; Rylee Burmester 11-0-0. Totals 45-4-4.0.

Montana Tech def. MSU-Northern

25-16, 25-18, 25-19

MT - (kills-aces-blocks) Hannah Oggerino 0-0-0; Maureen Jessop 9-1-1; Emma Carvo 0-2-0; Logan Reed 0-0-0; Taylor Henley 9-0-5; Mckenna Kaelber 1-0-1; Sarah Hopcroft 0-0-0; Karina Mickelson 10-0-5; Sydney Parks 3-0-6; Kiya Loobey 1-0-1; Hudsyn Dibrito 0-0-0; Megan Benton 1-0-1; Portia Cortner 0-1-0. Totals 34-4-13.0.

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Hailie George 0-0-0; Abigail Elliison 0-0-0; Tammy Maddock 2-0-2; Shania Neubauer 0-2-0; Elissa Lind 9-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 1-2-0; Jessalyn Chvilicek 3-0-0; Alana Graves 6-0-1; Marlee Bender 1-0-1; Emily Feller 0-1-1; Rylee Burmester 4-0-1. Totals 26-5-3.0.