Skylights look to build momentum in final road matches

Victory finally came for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team this past weekend when they defeated Carroll College to snap a 14-match losing streak.

Now, the Skylights will be tasked with going up against the first-place University of Providence this Friday and Saturday at the McLaughlin Center in Great Falls.

Even though they will be facing their toughest opponent this season, MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner is confident that his team can compete.

"I feel good about matching up against anyone when we take the floor," Wagner said. "Providence is an up-tempo team and they handle the ball really well and right now they're on top because of those two things."

The matches this weekend will be between teams on the opposite ends of the Frontier Conference. Providence has a 14-2 record to give them first in the conference and are riding a 12-match winning streak. However, they are only a game ahead of Rocky Mountain for the number one seed in the upcoming Frontier Conference postseason tournament.

MSU-N is last with a record of 2-14. However, they won their most recent game against Carroll College to snap a 14-match losing streak and are now a game back of Montana Western for fifth in the conference. With that huge win, Wagner believes it will be easier to carry their energy into the weekend against Providence.

"It's a lot easier to do it because you've been rewarded and you got a little extra fuel in the tank but absolutely cannot take a step backwards at this point," Wagner said. "You got to do all the things that you did in preparation for that and then some because now you've stepped up and showed that you need to be noticed."

The Skylights and Argonauts had played two matches at the Armory Gymnasium on Feb. 19-20. Providence won both of those matches, 3-0. Rylee Burmester led the Skylights with seven kills in both matches while Sadie Lott averaged 11 kills a match for the Argonauts over that weekend. Wagner said the sets were closer than the final score indicates and that the Skylights' recent win indicates how they have improved since the last time they played the Argonauts.

"We've had a couple sets that were close that we won and now we've had a close match that we also won so we've been trending up," Wagner said.

Some Argonauts that Wagner believes will make an impact on the game include Sacha Legros and Cydney Finberg-Roberts. Legros leads the Frontier Conference with 483 total digs and is second with an average of 7.2 digs a set. Finberg leads the Frontier with 783 total assists and an average of 11.7 assists a set. The Skylights will also need to watch out for Lott, who leads the conference with 248 total kills.

"They're all very athletic. They're much more experienced in their background in volleyball," Wagner said. "They are more than formidable. They're used to being there and they're playing as well as they have all season right now."

The Skylights will be led by Burmester, who leads the team with 173 total kills and an average of three kills per set. Other players the Skylights will need to make an impact include Emily Feller who leads the team with 485 total assists and Shania Neubauer who has 247 total digs on the year.

As a team, Providence is second in the conference with an 18.4 hitting percentage while MSU-N is last with a 10.7 hitting percentage. The Argonauts lead the conference averaging 14.2 kills per set and 12.7 assists a set. The Skylights are second to last in kills per set with 10.8 and are last in assists per set with 9.4. However, the teams are close in blocks per set as Providence is second to last in the Frontier with 1.8 and MSU-N is last with 1.2.

After their matches against Providence this weekend, the Skylights will only have two more matches before the Frontier Conference postseason tournament that begins April 6. If his team has any chance of making a Cinderella run, they will need to use this weekend's matches to continue improving so that they can be playing their best when it matters most.

"We gain that type of confidence, that type of pressure that comes down with the end of the season," Wagner said. "I'd like to think that we're peaking at the right time and the kids are hungry and they were rewarded a little bit. They kept that hunger alive and I hope to carry that through for the next three to four weeks."

MSU-N will play against Providence at the McLaughlin Center Gymnasium in Great Falls Friday at 7 p.m. They then play again in the same venue on Saturday at 1 p.m. Northern's final matches against Rocky Mountain College have been moved to Thursday April 1 and Friday April 2.