MSU-N Skylights volleyball played its defining match of the season so far, coming back from two sets down to beat Carroll in Helena over the weekend. Head coach Jerry Wagner told New Media Broadcasters what the team mindset is now that they can harness this momentum into the biggest challenge of all: the Frontier Conference Tournament.
“It’s obviously a lot easier to keep your team motivated after a come-from-behind victory like that,” Wagner said. “(My players are) feeling real good about themselves, as they should.”
“But at this point in the year, we’re smart enough to know that that’s one match,” Wagner continued. “They’re all going to be difficult.”
“Taking that (Carroll win), that’s great,” Wagner said. “It’s just a great motivation going into the tournament.”
Wagner shared what the outlook is for the Skylights as the No. 5 seed in the field and how preparing for the biggest match of the season will not have any bearing on how the process has gone this entire time.
“We’ve been very motivated. We know what needs to be done,” Wagner said. “The time (off has been) great. We used it well. You want to recover as quickly as possible.”
“Now, we actually have more time than we’ve ever had to prepare for our next opponent,” Wagner continued. “A smart coach is going to keep things as normal as possible leading into a key matchup for us on Friday morning at 11.”
For the first time ever, the Frontier Conference Volleyball Tournament will be hosted in Havre. Coach Wagner said what it means to him as an alum of Northern and what it will do to spark excitement around the epicenter of the season being at the Armory Gym.
“To get (to host) through different changes in the schedules over the year, (and) get that opportunity, there’s no other place that is going to host it where it’s going to be as big a deal as it is here at the Armory Gym at Northern,” Wagner said. “It’s the best venue. I’ve said that repeatedly to everybody in the conference.”
“The community loves volleyball. They love Northern. They like coming out and watching volleyball,” Wagner continued. “They know our team. They know these (other) teams very well.”
“It just sets up to be a real exciting atmosphere,” Wagner said.
Northern will play No. 4 seeded Carroll at 11am on Friday, followed by No. 6 Rocky and No. 3 Montana Western next up at 1:30pm. The lowest remaining seed of the bunch will face Providence at 5pm and then the highest seed gets Montana Tech at 7:30pm.
