The MSU-Northern Skylights volleyball team pulled off a tremendous upset on Thursday night at the Armory Gymnasium, defeating the No. 10 Montana Tech Orediggers, three sets to one.
The Skylights led (8-4) in the first set, but Tech rallied and were able to take the lead on multiple occasions late. With the set tied at 23 apiece, Northern won the last two points to take the first set, (25-23).
The second set, which the Skylights have won in the last three matches, had leads of (6-2), (14-10), and (17-13). The Orediggers battled back to make it (20-16) and rattled off six straight points to take the lead late. The set was tied at 23 all and the teams traded points back and forth before Northern won the last two to take it, (26-24).
The match started to turn in the third set, with Montana Tech racing out to a (17-11) lead and never trailing, winning it easily, (25-18).
Northern and Tech played a competitive fourth set and the Skylights maintained a (16-14) lead halfway through. They held that lead all the way to (22-19), which was the first instance in the set where a team was up by more than two points. They ended the match on a (7-1) run to take set No. 4, (25-19).
Northern’s leaders all season long showed up in the big time. Alana Graves’ 17 kills and .484 hitting percentage led the way for the Skylights, while Emily Feller (23) and Bailey Egan (22) paced the assists and digs categories. Olivia Muir had a match-high 21 kills for Montana Tech.
Northern moved to (10-12) on the season, handing Tech its second loss in Frontier Conference play. The Skylights will be back in action on Saturday when they take on the University of Providence in Great Falls.
