Skylights' perfect record in five-game matches snapped
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
It had to happen at some point. The Montana State University-Northern
volleyball team couldn't possibly stay perfect in five-game matches. But head
coach
The Skylights fought back to face a fifth and deciding game against Lewis-Clark
State in Lewiston, Idaho, only to see their passing break down and fall to the
Warriors 31-29, 30-22, 28-30, 24-30, 15-7.
"Our passing completely fell apart in Game 5," Handley said. "We
missed our first serve and after that we couldn't pass the ball to get our
offense going."
Northern found itself in the familiar position of playing catch-up, dropping
the first two games 31-29 and 30-22 as errors plagued them.
"We had 17 offensive errors in the first two games," Handley said.
"And that doesn't count our hitting errors. We just made a lot of mistakes."
The Skylights managed to clean up their play a little to take Games 3 and 4 by
scores of 30-28 and 30-24 thanks to some solid blocking. Northern finished with
19 blocks as a team in the match.
"We blocked really well," Handley
said. "It kept us in the game. We just couldn't get it done with our
passing."
LC got a match-high 20 kills from senior Amanda Browne, while fellow senior Addy Hines had 10 kills and three blocks.
"(Browne) really stepped up big time," Handley said. "They've
really been waiting for her to come around, and she had an outstanding match.
LC is very tough at home.
Jordan Fox led Northern with 13 kills and 11 digs. Ashley Roth added eight
kills and seven blocks. Emilee Madsen dished out 27
assists, while Tera O'Haire
had nine kills and five blocks.
Despite committing 36 hitting errors and nine service errors, Handley was
pleased with the effort.
"The girls played very hard, probably as hard as they've played all
year," she said. "But we just ended up on the losing end."
The effort the Skylights put forth on Friday night, coupled with a seven-hour
bus ride on Saturday morning took its toll in a 30-20, 30-24, 30-24 loss to
Montana Tech in
"We looked like a team that played a five-game match the night before and
drove for seven hours that day," Handley said. "We looked
tired."
Unlike the night before, Northern's hitting and
serve-receive improved, but the serving woes worsened. The Skylights committed
numerous serving errors with very few aces.
"We made too many serving errors for only having two aces," Handley
said. "We weren't even serving very aggressive which, made it worse."
Besides Northern's serving woes, Tech got solid
performances from Collette Phillips and Marrin Audet, who racked up 23 and 17 kills, respectively.
"Our blockers struggled with knowing who to block, because they have so
many weapons," Handley said. "Marrin is
definitely back. She makes a difference for them."
Northern was led by Fox and Julie Henderson, who had seven kills and seven digs each. Jasmine Mitchell added six kills and three
blocks.
The Skylights will be action on Monday as the JV squad travels to
Lewis-Clark St. def. MSU-Northern
31-29, 30-22, 28-30, 24-30, 15-7
MSU-N - Kills 50 (Jordan Fox 13, Tera O'Haire 9, Ashley Roth 8), Assists 45 (Emilee
Madsen 27, Kelly Thorpe 11), Aces 9 (Fox 3), Digs 51 (Fox 11, Alicia Mannin 10), Blocks 19 (Jeanna
McPherson 7, Ashley Roth 7, Julie Henderson 6).
L-C ST - Kills 63 (Amanda Browne 20, Ashlie Bever 11, Addy Hines 10, Marie
Lauder 10 ), Assists 55 (Megan Dolny 53), Aces 7
(four with 2), Digs 59 (Dawn Ingham 17, Bever 15),
Blocks 8 (Lauder 3, Hines 3).
30-20, 30-24, 30-24
MSU-N - Kills 34 (Jordan Fox 7, Julie Henderson 7, Jasmine Mitchell 6, Ashley
Roth 6), Assists 40 (Emilee Madsen 14, Kelly Thorpe
10), Aces 2 (Fox, Henderson), Digs 35 (Fox 7, Henderson 7, Madsen 7), Blocks 8
(Mitchell 3).
TECH - Kills 54 (Collette Phillips 23, Marrin Audet 17), Assists 48 (Becky Hancock 46), Aces 10 (Phillips
5, Beka Hudson 3), Digs 38 (Hudson 10, Phillips 9),
Blocks 3 (Phillips 1, Audet 1).