Skylights face Montana Tech in Frontier tournament

Skylights face Montana Tech in Frontier tournament

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News Sports Editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

It is do or die time for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team, and the rest of the Frontier Conference for that matter. Today, the 2005 Frontier Conference tournament will get under way, with the Skylights taking on tournament host Montana Tech at 2 p.m. in Butte.

Other first-round matches include top-seeded Westminster College (12-2, 16-11) versus Lewis-Clark State (3-11, 4-21) at 1 p.m. The night session begins with third-seeded UM-Western (9-5, 17-14) against Carroll College (6-8, 13-14) at 6 p.m. And the opening round will conclude with second-seeded University of Great Falls (9-5, 18-10) taking on Rocky Mountain College (4-10, 9-15) at 8 p.m.

The tournament, played over two days, is a single-elimination format with the winner advancing to the Northern Regional next weekend. Despite finishing the season on a high note with a win last weekend in Dillon, today's match-up with Montana Tech isn't the one that MSU-N head coach Lisa Handley and the Skylights were looking for.

If we had our pick, we obviously wouldn't have wanted to play Tech, Handley said. But nobody would because they are so tough on their home floor.

For us, it is a little more than that, she added. They beat us twice this year already and we have really struggled to stop their fast offense. So this is going to be a very tough challenge for us.

If anyone has an edge in today's match, it is certainly Tech. The Orediggers outlasted the Skylights in five games back in September. Then, in Havre three weeks ago, the Orediggers drubbed the Skylights in four games to sweep the season series. In both matches, Tech's outside hitters had a field day against a shaky Skylight team that was struggling with its serve-receive game.

The trio of Maria McNeil, CoreyAnne Russell and Krystle Spang have torched the Skylight defense this season, and slowing all three down will be paramount today. The Orediggers also have one of the top setters in the tournament in Lindsay Balfour, as well as an outstanding libero in Rebekka Hudson.

Tech's fast offense has given us trouble all season, Handley said. We have made some adjustments to try to slow it down.

But the key to defending them is still the same, she added. We have to make sure we play really good defense and we have to serve the ball tough so they can't get their offense going as easily.

Northern also possesses two of the top hitters in the tournament. Seniors Jasmine Mitchell and Jordan Fox will be playing in their final Frontier Conference matches of their careers this weekend, as will Julie Henderson and a host of other Skylights. While Handley believes defense wins championships, she is also hoping that her veteran team and the emotion of the seniors as they end their careers will serve the Skylights well this weekend.

Practice has been very positive this week because I think our team knows that we're coming to the end with a very special group of girls, Handley said. The attitude of this team is very positive right now and they are very fired up for this tournament.

Northern's senior leadership and the experience that it possesses in playing big matches is just one of the reasons why Handley said that despite Westminster's domination of the league this year, this tournament is still up for grabs.

Westminster and UGF are both very outstanding teams and they have both had a great year, Handley said. But there are a lot of teams that can win this tournament.

We have a veteran team that has a lot of experience playing in big matches and so does Western, she added. Plus, Montana Tech is playing at home.

The match between MSU-N and Montana Tech will get under way today at 3 p.m. on the campus of Montana Tech. The Frontier Conference tournament will run through Saturday night, with the championship match scheduled for 8 p.m.