Montana State University-Northern head volleyball coach Jerry Wagner has announced the signing of Broadwater High School standout Emily Bird to join the Skylights program next year.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to have Emily Bird sign with the MSU-Northern Skylights volleyball program" said Coach Wagner. "The signing of Emily, along with recent signee Macy Uffelman, makes our 2024 recruiting thus far, a strong, athletic, and experienced class. Broadwater High School is a very strong and successful program under the direction of Head Coach Megan Bleile and her assistant coaches one of which is Emily's mother Jennilee."  

Bird is a 5-foot-4 Setter from Townsend, Montana. During her, time at Broadwater, she broke the schools most assists record as a sophomore and just broke it again as a senior with 1385. Bird also broke the school and state record of most assists in a match with 66. She not only broke those records, but she also broke the schools record for most career assists of 4498, 458 digs, 20 blocks, 112 kills, and 69 aces.

 "Academically, MSUN lined up very well with Emily's desire to pursue a degree which will prepare her for Veterinary Medicine School in her future.   Recruiting is about getting the correct fit academically and athletically. Both of these areas lined up perfectly for Emily. "

During her freshman year the team took Second in districts and appeared at divisional, as she was selected on to Second team All-Conference. Sophomore year her team took Second at districts again, and finished Third at State. Emily was on Second team All-Conference, and Second All-State Selection her sophomore year. Broadwater took First place in Districts her junior and senior years. They took Third place her junior year at state and finished Second place her senior year. Her junior year she was selected onto First team All-Conference, All-State Selection, and Honorable Mention State All-tournament team. Bird was selected Frist team All-Conference, All-State Selection, first team State All-Tournament team, Player of the year All-Area Team, and was voted team Caption her senior year.

 "Emily is a very dynamic athlete with great quickness.  She gives the Skylights 3 top flight setters in our gym.  She is a strong defender & server, which are areas we look at making stronger and staples of strength in our program. Emily is highly respected by her teammates, opposing coaches and players.  Emily, comes highly recommend not only for her ability as a volleyball player but more importantly her leadership qualities, attitude and effort!  Emily is a strong competitor and her competitive nature brings so much to her team. Emily's signing strengthens an experienced and veteran team. Her abilities as a setter will help direct whichever offensive system we choose to implement.  Her character, athletic ability and skill are all qualities that I look for in a recruit.  These attributes will allow her to be successful and add to our experienced team efforts to become one of the top teams in the Frontier Conference." 

She will not only make a splash on the court, but she gets it done in the classroom. She is a four-year Honor Roll Student, and was Academic All-State for four years.

When asked why she chose Northern she replied "I chose MSUN because Coach Jerry gave me an incredible opportunity to keep playing this sport, I love that I couldn't pass up. When I first visited MSUN the team and faculty were super welcoming. I also like the small-town vibes that Havre gives off. The community seems super supportive of the college and its athletic programs. MSUN also has an incredible Ag program which is the direction I want to go."