October 2, 2026
HAVRE, Mont. — Dakota State (S.D.) won two of the first three sets Friday evening but could not close out Montana State-Northern, falling in a five-set Frontier Conference women's volleyball thriller at Armory Gymnasium.
The Trojans claimed the opening set 26-24 and the third set 25-23, while the Skylights answered with victories of 25-20 and 25-22 in the second and fourth sets. MSU-Northern pulled away midway through the deciding fifth set for a 15-11 victory and a 3-2 match win.
Dakota State fell to 9-7 overall and 6-4 in Frontier Conference play. MSU-Northern improved to 8-8 overall and 4-6 in league play.
How it happened
The opening set featured numerous momentum swings. Northern jumped to a 5-2 advantage before Dakota State answered and grabbed a 9-7 lead. The Trojans later built a 13-10 advantage and maintained a slim margin for much of the set.
MSU-Northern rallied to tie the set at 21-21 and again at 23-23. The Skylights reached set point at 24-23, but Dakota State responded with three straight points. An MSU-Northern attack error tied the set at 24, followed by another Northern attack error to give DSU a 25-24 lead.
Macey Wathen finished the set with a kill for the 26-24 victory.
Dakota State collected 16 kills and hit .244 in the opening set, while Northern was limited to 11 kills and a .077 hitting percentage.
The teams battled through several early ties before MSU-Northern began to create separation. Northern used a run to build a 19-13 advantage before the Trojans responded.
Dakota State trimmed the deficit to 20-19 after consecutive kills by
Tristyn Maras. The Skylights answered by scoring five of the final six points, capped by Macy Uffelman's kill for a 25-20 victory.
The Trojans produced 16 kills in the set but committed 10 attack errors, finishing with a .098 hitting percentage. Northern hit .245 with 15 kills and just two attack errors.
Dakota State raced to an 8-3 lead in the third set before Northern battled back. The Skylights eventually erased the deficit and took an 18-16 lead.
DSU responded and tied the set at 20-20 on a kill by
Gabi Borresen. The teams exchanged points before the Trojans went in front 23-22 on a kill by
Macey Wathen. Wathen added another kill for set point at 24-22.
After Northern pulled within 24-23, Wathen delivered her third straight DSU kill to secure the 25-23 victory and give Dakota State a 2-1 match lead.
The Trojans posted their best offensive set of the match, pounding down 20 kills and hitting .277. Northern finished the set with 10 kills and a .158 hitting percentage.
Dakota State appeared poised to close out the match after building a 16-12 lead in the fourth set. MSU-Northern, however, responded with a decisive run.
The Skylights scored nine consecutive points to turn DSU's four-point advantage into a 21-16 Northern lead. Dakota State fought back and cut the deficit to 23-22 before MSU-Northern scored the final two points, finishing the set with a service ace for the 25-22 win.
Dakota State had 13 kills but committed nine attack errors for a .077 hitting percentage in the fourth. Northern recorded 13 kills and hit .173.
MSU-Northern scored the first two points of the deciding set before Dakota State answered with three straight points, highlighted by kills from
Kaylee Evenson and
Raya Van Beek and a
Reagan VanRooyan service ace.
With the score tied at 4-4, the Skylights scored three consecutive points for a 7-4 advantage. Northern later extended its lead to 12-6.
The Trojans refused to go away, putting together four consecutive kills to cut the deficit from 13-7 to 13-11.
Emily Nelson and Evenson each had kills during the rally.
MSU-Northern stopped the comeback by scoring the final two points for the 15-11 victory and the five-set match win.
Inside the box score
Dakota State finished with a sizable 75-57 advantage in kills (season high in kills), but the Trojans committed 37 attack errors compared with 18 by MSU-Northern. DSU hit .161 on 236 attacks, while Northern hit .184 on 212 swings. Dakota State also held a 124-117 advantage in digs (season high in digs).
MSU-Northern held the advantage at the service line with seven aces compared with five for Dakota State and committed just four service errors compared with DSU's 11. The Skylights also controlled the net defensively with 14 team blocks, while the Trojans finished with four.
M. Wathen led a balanced Dakota State attack with 14 kills and a .211 hitting percentage. She added eight digs, two blocks and a service ace. Maras followed with 13 kills and five digs.
Nelson produced an all-around performance with 11 kills, 37 assists and 15 digs, posting a triple-double for the second straight match for the Trojans. Van Beek registered 11 kills on a team-best .333 hitting percentage and added eight digs and two blocks.
Lauryn Kloth also collected 11 kills.
Borresen contributed 23 assists, nine digs and two service aces.
Kate VanRooyan led the Trojan back row with a season-high 30 digs and added an ace, while
Reagan VanRooyan followed with career-high 29 digs and an ace.
Sydney Wathen tallied 13 digs and eight assists.
The Trojans contributed 72 set assists in the match, which is the fourth most single match assists in the school record book. It was the most set assists since Oct. 27, 2015, when DSU produced 71 set assists at Presentation (S.D.).
Macy Uffelman paced Skylights with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .226 and adding 18 digs. Holly Newman followed with 12 kills and a .281 hitting percentage.
Caleigh Case recorded 10 kills on a match-best .346 hitting percentage and was a major presence at the net with eight blocks. Josie Hasler added 10 kills, 29 digs and four blocks.
Kambria Maloy led all players with 32 digs and registered three service aces. Addison Falls Down finished with 25 assists, 12 digs and an ace, while Emily Bird added 22 assists, 13 digs and three aces. Kendall Scheffelmear contributed six blocks.
Up next
Dakota State closes their first half portion of the Frontier Conference schedule Saturday afternoon, visiting No. 8 ranked Providence (Mont.) in Great Falls. First serve is set for 3 p.m. (Central Time)/2 p.m. (Mountain Time) at McLaughlin Center Gymnasium.
