BUTTE — A new No. 3 has entered the Frontier Conference volleyball ranks! And the Skylights are now lurking within the top five? There has been a bit of jumbling around in the Frontier volleyball landscape, so let’s get into how things are shaping up after the past week.
MSU-Northern lighting up the courts
Last week, the Skylights were sitting at No. 7 in Frontier rankings with a 3-2 record. Since then, MSU-Northern has dropped zero games and is in fact on a five-game winning streak. It is a testament to the Frontier landscape – and to volleyball, which has so many games in a season – how much can shift in just a week.
The fact the Skylights’ latest loss, on Sept. 10, was against current Frontier No. 1 Providence doesn’t hurt their case either.
Since then, MSU-Northern has had a fairly easy schedule – two home games against Valley City and Mayville, then a sweep on the road against Dickinson and Bismarck. It now faces an uphill battle: two home games against Dakota State, the new No. 3 in the Frontier, and No. 2 Bellevue, then on the road against Montana Western and Montana Tech.
All before facing Providence again, this time on the Argos’ home court.
The Skylights have their work cut out for them the next few weeks. The bright side? They have been able to get through the majority of the Frontier’s newcomers, foes whose play they are largely unfamiliar with, unscathed.
They also have freshman Lexi Jones, this week’s Frontier Defensive Player of the Week, on their side. She tallied 15 combined blocks on MSU-Northern’s road trip against Bismarck and Dickinson and is an integral part of a squad that is limiting its opponents to 1.8 blocks per set.
While the road ahead for the Skylights is arguably the toughest on schedule, they should use the momentum they’ve been generating the past couple weeks as fuel to help them power through. MSU-Northern has uniquely positioned an optimal springboard for itself – let’s see where it takes the Skylights in the next couple weeks.
Frontier volleyball notebook: Providence atop the standings, Montana Tech not far behind
Dakota State sends in its Trojan horse
The Trojans secured a statement win on Sept. 20 when they defeated Montana Tech, a national top-25 team, and officially entered the top three Frontier ranks. And in straight sets, no less!
Dakota State routed Montana Western the day before too, also in straight sets.
Both wins came at home for the Trojans, who are still undefeated when playing with home court advantage. Since conference play began, Dakota State has dropped just two games – the first conference game of the season against Dickinson State, and against Frontier No. 2 Bruins.
For a program that is receiving votes in the national poll, it’s not a shabby streak for the Trojans.
Dakota State’s next matchup against previously mentioned MSU-Northern will be a must-watch, as both programs are sitting with two losses in Frontier play. However the next week plays out for either team will shake up conference top-five standings in an interesting way.
The Trojans have a couple things working in their favor compared to the Skylights, though; first, there is the fact that Dakota State has an easier schedule than MSU-Northern’s in the next coming weeks. Aside from their game at Providence, the Trojans will face No. 9 Valley City State and No. 10 Mayville State, getting a much-needed breather for them ahead of their match against Bellevue.
Second, Dakota State has two of this week’s Frontier Conference Players of the Week in Macey Wathen (Attacker of the Week) and Maddi Langerock (Setter of the Week).
Both Wathen and Langerock were pivotal in the Trojans’ double straight-set sweeps this past weekend. Wathen logged double-digit kills in Dakota State’s matches against Montana Western and Montana Tech, with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Langerock had 34 set assists and four digs against the Bulldogs and then promptly levelled up, notching a double-double against the Orediggers with 42 set assists and 14 digs.
Impressive feats against national contenders, rightly earning Dakota State Trojan-heavy Frontier weekly honors.
Frontier volleyball notebook: Conference newcomers, Providence and Tech in familiar territory
Carroll creeping on up
Don’t discount the Fighting Saints, currently sitting in sixth place in Frontier standings.
They have three losses on the season, all coming in straight sets and all coming from the top-three programs in the Frontier: Providence, Bellevue and Dakota State. The losses don’t look so damaging when you take a look at them with that perspective. And when you look at their wins, half of them have come against new Frontier programs and another from the recently stellar Skylights.
It’s not a terrible start for Carroll, which has had to contend with some growing pains that come with an expanded conference and more competition.
Where the Fighting Saints have particularly shined this season is in their defense. Virtually out-matched in every other area, Carroll has had outstanding defense when compared to its opponents. It has limited them to 122 assists to Carroll’s 167 and 85 blocks to the Fighting Saints’ 117.5. They have been able to average 2.3 blocks per set to opponents’ 1.6.
Defense is the name of the game for this Carroll volleyball squad. If its offense could be crafted just a bit more – it is averaging 12.3 kills per set to opponents’ 12.7, but holds a slight edge over aces, with 1.3 aces per set to opponents’ 1.1 – then the Fighting Saints could put themselves in a better position in a competitive conference. Plus the Fighting Saints have motivation knowing they will host the Frontier Conference tournament Nov. 14-15.
It will be interesting to see how Carroll plays in its next two matchups against Montana Western and Montana Tech. If there was a time to capitalize for the Fighting Saints, these next two matches would be it. Both the Bulldogs and Orediggers have fallen in Frontier standings and have both dropped their past two games. A win against either – or even better, both – of these programs would surely propel Carroll to top-five status in conference rankings.
Players of the Week
Attacker of the Week: Macey Wathen, Dakota State
Wathen had double-digits kills and just one attack error in Dakota State’s pair of three-set sweeps against Montana Western and No. 19 Montana Tech. She posted 12 kills in 17 attempts for .706 hitting percentage in the Trojans’ win over the Bulldogs, and 11 kills and .455 hitting percentage over the Orediggers.
Wathen averaged 3.8 kills per set and a .564 hitting percentage for the week while also adding two blocks.
This is her first career Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Player of the Week award.
Setter of the Week: Maddi Langerock, Dakota State
Langerock also helped guide Dakota State to its pair of three-set sweeps. She opened the weekend with 34 set assists (11.3 assists per set) and four digs against Western. She then had a double-double of 42 set assists (14.0 assists per set) and 14 digs (4.7 digs per set) against Tech.
Langerock averaged 12.7 assists and 3.0 digs per set for the week and is currently No. 2 in the NAIA in assists per set (11.46 assists per set), and No. 1 in the Frontier in that category. She added five kills and a service ace for the week.
This is her first career Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Player of the Week award.
Defender of the Week: Lexi Jones, MSU-Northern
Jones had 15 blocks for the week as the Skylights earned a pair of road victories over the weekend. She had nine blocks (two solos, seven assists) in MSU-Northern’s 3-2 victory at Dickinson State. Jones then had six blocks (one solo, five assists) in the Skylights’ victory over Bismarck State. She averaged 1.88 blocks per set for the week.
This is Jones’ first career Erck Hotels/Frontier Conference Player of the Week award.
Frontier standings and upcoming matches
1. Providence (14-1, 7-0 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 26 vs. Bellevue, 7 p.m.
2. Bellevue (10-2, 6-1 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 26 @ Providence, 7 p.m.
3. Dakota State (9-3, 5-2 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 26 @ MSU-Northern, 7 p.m.
4. Montana Tech (9-4, 5-2 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 25 @ Carroll, 7 p.m.
5. MSU-Northern (7-6, 5-2 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 26 vs. Dakota State, 7 p.m.
6. Carroll (9-6, 4-3 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 25 vs. Montana Tech, 7 p.m.
7. Montana Western (6-8, 4-3 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 25 @ Rocky, 6 p.m.
8. Dickinson State (7-5, 3-4 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 25 @ Mayville State, 5 p.m.
9. Valley City State (4-8, 2-5 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 24 vs. University of Jamestown (JV), 6 p.m.
10. Mayville State (3-8, 1-6 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 23 vs. Concordia College (Minn.), 6 p.m.
11. Bismarck State (2-9, 0-7 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 25 @ Valley City State, 6 p.m.
12. Rocky Mountain (0-11, 0-7 Frontier)
Next up: Sept. 25 vs. Montana Western, 6 p.m.
Bria Manning is the sports editor of The Montana Standard. Follow her on X at @briaamanning or contact her at bria.manning@406mtsports.com
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