Skylights stun Saints in Frontier tourney

On Tuesday night in their opening game of the Frontier Conference postseason tournament, the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team won their first two sets at Carroll College to put themselves one set away from advancing. However, the Saints won two straight sets to tie the match and force a fifth and decisive set.

The teams battled in the fifth set as they fought to a 13-13 tie. The Skylights finally put an end to the Saints' comeback as Alana Graves and Abigail Elliison recorded back-to-back kills for the Skylights to win the set, 15-13, and win the match to advance in the postseason.

"We were working through some things against a very good team that came back with a lot of pride," said MSU-N head coach Jerry Wagner. "We showed an absolute huge amount of courage hanging in there."

The first set saw the Skylights and Saints go back and forth. Neither team could get a lead of more than two points and they exchanged leads several times. It came down to the final moments of the set after Carroll took a 24-23 lead and was one point away from leading the match. Instead, the Skylights dug deep and scored three straight points to win the first set, 26-24. The set point came when Carroll's Ali Williams committed a set error to give MSU-N the 1-0 lead in the match.

It initially looked like the Skylights would not have much trouble in the second set as they raced out to a 7-2 lead. However, the Saints responded with a 9-3 run to take the lead. The teams would be neck and neck throughout the rest of the set and battled to a 23-23 tie. The end of the second set went the same way as the end of the first set. Carroll scored to take a 24-23 lead to get a chance to win the set and tie the match. In the second straight set, the Skylights scored three straight points to win, 26-24. Elliison recorded a kill for the set point to give the Skylights a 2-0 lead in the match.

"We've just been playing so many tight sets and at some point, you figure out how to come through more often than not," Wagner said. "We were fortunate enough to come through in those two sets."

The Saints came out determined in the third set to keep their season alive. They jumped out to an 8-3 lead and then pushed it even further to a 16-9 lead. The Skylights could not make a dent in the Saints' lead and Carroll went on to win the set, 25-14, to make MSU-N's lead in the set, 2-1. The fourth set started out in a similar fashion to the first two sets with the teams going back and forth and exchanging leads. Carroll eventually took a 14-13 lead and then scored three straight points to extend their lead to three. The Skylights responded with a 4-1 run to cut their deficit to one.

With their season on the line, the Saints did not buckle as they scored three straight points to give them more space on the scoreboard. Carroll eventually went on to win the fourth set, 25-19, to tie the match and force a fifth set.

Looking to avoid three straight set losses, the Skylights opened the fifth set hot with four straight points. However, the Saints battled back and tied the set, 6-6. The teams would exchange leads until they were tied again, 13-13. Graves scored a point for the lead and then Elliison got the ball right down Carroll's left sideline to seal the win.

"We got off to a nice start. We started to serve the ball a little better. Got them a little bit more predictable and capitalized," Wagner said. "Another tight set and they found a way. When we're close, they're on it."

Rylee Burmester had another strong showing for the Skylights as she led the team with 18 kills. Other contributors in MSU-N's win include Emily Feller, who led the team with 53 assists, and Elliison, who led the team with 38 digs. Taelyr Krantz and Lexi Mikkelson led the Saints with 13 kills each.

This win was only the Skylight's third of the season as they finished last in the Frontier with a 2-18 record. Carroll came into the tournament after finishing third in the conference. However, Northern beat Carroll twice in a row including Tuesday night's win which pushed them to the semifinals for the first time in ages.

The Skylights will next play in the tournament semifinal game on Thursday night when they head on the road to play the University of Providence. Before they play the first-place team from the Frontier, the Skylights will look to rest and enjoy their win over the Saints.

"We got to find a way to rest in one day and bring it back to championship level," Wagner said. "We need to enjoy this big time and feel really good about ourselves and the opportunity that we created and then just regain our energy,"

MSU-Northern def. Carroll College

26-24, 26-24, 14-25, 19-25, 15-13

CC - (kills-aces-blocks) Lexie Gleasman 12-0-2; Ali Williams 6-0-2; Taelyr Krantz 13-1-7, Katherine Mceuen 11-1-0; Maddie Quick 0-0-0; Maddie Boles 7-0-3; Ellie Sievertson 0-0-0; Kylie Kackman 3-2-0; Lexi Mikkelson 13-0-2; Maddie Wilkes 0-0-0; Laurel Kassa 0-1-0; Julia Carr 0-1-0. Totals 65-6-12.0

MSU-N - (kills-aces-blocks) Abigail Elliison 10-0-0; Tammy Maddock 7-0-2; Elissa Lind 13-0-2; Alana Graves 11-0-1; Rylee Burmester 18-0-1; Emily Feller 3-1-1; Hailie George 0-0-0; Shania Neubauer 0-0-0; Jada Sudbrack 0-0-0; Kaitlin Murdock 1-0-0; Jessalyn Chvilicek 0-0-0. Totals 63-1-0.