Pioneers 3... Williston State 2 (25-18, 15-25, 25-17, 20-25, 15-6)

An exciting back and forth match went to the wire on Wednesday night in Miles City, Montana and as the dust settled, the MCC Pioneers moved up to 3rd place in the MonDak Conference standings with a 3-2 win over Williston State. 

MCC jumped up on WSC early after 7 consecutive service points by Bailey Nowicki (Miles City, MT) gave the Pioneers a 13-5 lead that would become insurmountable. Game 2 saw the tides turn as the Tetons took control early to easily outdistance the Pioneers and tie the match at 1-1. 

The teams switched ends again and MCC got off to a 6-1 lead only to watch the Tetons cut that lead to 11-8. The Pioneers went on a 7-1 run fueled by a huge kill by Ashtynn Egan (Colstrip, MT) for an 18-9 lead that turned in to a 25-17 win. Williston State rallied quickly in game 4 with a 5-1 lead. MCC tied the game at 9-9 but the Tetons would fend off the Pioneers to force a 5th and deciding game. 

The Pioneers got 8 consecutive service points from Nowicki to go from a 5-3 lead to a 12-3 lead. MCC would win the match with a 15-6 bulge in game 5. 

A balanced hitting attack by the Pioneers saw Kodiann Lynn (Simms, MT) smash 15 kills. She was followed by Ruby Gray (Billings, MT) with 12 kills and Ashtyn Egan with 11. Maria Stewart (Billings, MT) set up the hitters with 49 assists in the match. Bailey Nowicki had 3 aces to lead the Pioneers.

Bree Swanson (Chinook, MT) had 30 digs and Kodiann Lynn had 2 blocks.

The Pioneers are now 7-6 overall and 3-2 in MonDak Conference play. MCC hits the road Sunday with a match in Helena against the Carroll College JV followed by a Monday night match in Billings against the Rocky Mountain College JV.