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Skylight spikers silence Argos By Ryan Divish/Havre
Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com GREAT FALLS - Montana
State University-Northern volleyball coach Lisa Handley isn't a chemist. But
she would happily take all of the intensity, emotion and aggression her team
played with Wednesday night and bottle it up for future use. The Skylights played
perhaps their best match of the season in defeating the University of Great
Falls Argos 30-20, 23-30, 30-18, 30-26 at the McLaughlin Center on the UGF
campus. "That's a big win
for us," Handley said. "Great Falls is very tough to beat on their
home court. But they knew this was a match we needed to have and they played
like it." Indeed, the intensity
on the floor had a postseason atmosphere despite it being each team's third
conference match. With both teams evenly matched in terms of talent and
disdain for each other, neither wanted to walk out without that first win in
the conference. "There was a lot
of animosity before the match even started," said senior Mitsu Phillips.
"But this was a match we couldn't afford to lose. We had the attitude
that we weren't going to walk out of here without a win." Animosity may be
putting it politely. It would be kind of like saying there was some spirited
banter between the two teams. In truth, it was straight trash talkin'. And like the match, the
Skylights won that battle as well. "It was fun for
them," Handley said of her team. "The talkin' started and it really
got them going and playing hard and aggressive. I wish more people would do
that to us all the time. We seem to play better." Phillips admitted she
was talking on the floor, but her play did even more talking. The senior outside
hitter made the most of her final game in the McLaughlin Center and possibly
in her hometown of Great Falls. Phillips and fellow
senior Tanja Bruski have seen the blossoming of the rivalry between Northern
and UGF and they played accordingly. Northern took game one
with relative ease as Bruski, Lindsay Garcia and Tera O'Haire controlled the
net. Bruski served up a pair of aces sandwiched in between a Garcia kill to
pull away early. Bruski and O'Haire punctuated the game with an emphatic
stuff block to win 30-20. In game two, everything
that Northern did right in game one stopped. The Skylights grabbed an early
10-5 lead only to watch it disappear. UGF fought its way back into the game
and Northern was only too kind to cooperate. "Our passing
completely broke down in game two," Handley said. UGF went on an 8-2 run
to tie the game at 17. Northern's offense looked out of sync with poor passes
leading to tough sets, which resulted in hitting errors. The Argos grabbed a
22-20 lead and never looked back. Mellany Dochylos and Stephanie Smith
combined for five kills in the final eight points to take game two, 30-23. In the short
intermission between games two and three, Handley reminded her team about the
need for solid passing to get the entire offense going. "I might not have
said it quite that way," Handley said. "But they knew our passing
had to get better." And the Skylights
responded. Northern roared to the lead in game three as Jeanna McPherson's
kill on a quick set gave them a 13-5 lead. Still, the pesky Argos wouldn't
roll over and quit. They fought back to within 3 points at 14-11 behind kills
from Dochylos and Smith. But the Skylight
seniors ended the rally right there. With O'Haire serving, Northern rattled
off seven unanswered points as Phillips and Bruski alternated kills for five
consecutive points. An ace by O'Haire give Northern a 10-point lead at 21-11. "Our seniors have
to get it done in matches like that and they did," Handley said.
"Kelly (Thorpe) had to trust our seniors. She kept getting them the ball
and they produced. Kelly set her smartest game of the season." The Skylights continued
to roll as Garcia got into the fray. With Bruski and McPherson getting some
kills in the middle, the outside opened up even more and Garcia capitalized,
picking up a pair of emphatic kills. But game three belonged to the seniors
and Phillips finished it off with a soft tip in front of a pair of diving
Argos to take the game 30-18. If the Skylights
thought UGF was going to concede the match being down 2-1, they found out
quickly that wasn't the case. After being tight early, Northern pulled away
as cross-court kills from Phillips built 5-point leads. A huge stuff block
from McPherson on a back-row spike from Dochylos gave the Skylights their
biggest lead at 26-19. UGF answered as Ashley Zerr-Smith served up three aces
in a row as the Argos rolled up four consecutive points. A timeout from Handley
settled her team down, and two kills from Phillips and a soft kill from
Bruski ended the match. Phillips finished with
a team-high 18 kills while Garcia finished with 14. Thorpe dished out 41
assists while Nicole Kruse had 23 digs. Smith led UGF with 18
kills and 11 digs while Dochylos added 7 kills and 15 digs. "We have great
weapons when we pass," Handley said. "And we passed in every game
but game two. It was our most complete game of the season. It's close to our
game against Rocky, but our serving was better tonight. This is the type of
game we need to play every night. It was a total team effort." Of course every night
won't be in Great Falls against the Argos, which made Phillips a little
nostalgic. "It felt really
good to play one last time here," Phillips said. "I really
appreciated having family and friends here to support us." As for the lack of love
between the two teams, Phillips was diplomatic. "There was a lot
of commotion on the floor," she said. "But no matter what's said,
we want to leave it on the court." There is one thing that
Handley doesn't want to leave on the court and that's the feeling her team
had after winning. "I hope they
remember what this feels like, the feeling of winning," Handley said.
"They should want this feeling every night." MSU-Northern def.
University of Great Falls 30-20, 23-30, 30-18,
30-25 UGF - Kills 42
(Stephanie Smith 18, Mellany Dochylos 7), Assists 35 (Ashley Zerr-Smith 33),
Aces 4 (Zerr-Smith 3), Digs 55 (Dochylos 15, Smith 11), Blocks 4 (Smith 2). MSUN - Kills 52 (Mitsu
Phillips 18, Lindsay Garcia 14), Assists 44 (Kelly Thorpe 41), Aces 11 (Tanja
Bruski 5, Emmy Olson 2, Tera O'Haire 2), Digs 74 (Nicole Kruse 23, Brandi
Snell 9), Blocks 9 (Bruski 3). |
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