Pioneers 0... Northwest College 3 (17-25, 23-25, 20-25)

Northwest College came in to Wednesday night's contest with a 12-1 record and were also receiving votes in the weekly NJCAA D1 National volleyball rankings. The Trappers showed why as they cruised past the Pioneers 3-0 and handed MCC their 3rd straight loss in 5 days.

The Trappers handled the Pioneers in game one winning 17-25. Game 2 was much closer as the Pioneers hung in there and had the scored tied 21-21 before falling late by the score of 23-25. MCC led game 2 10-3 but NWC scored 8 consecutive points to take a 11-10 lead. The Pioneers had costly service errors with the score tied at 17-17 and also when it was 18-19.

Game 3 saw the Trappers jump out to a 0-5 lead and the Pioneers had an uphill climb the rest of the way but could not get any closer than 3 points at 16-19. 

Freshman Brylee Lowell (Columbus, MT) led the Pioneers defensively with 16 digs and 3 blocks. Ruby Gray (Billings, MT) also had 3 blocks. Zeason Schaffer (Broadus, MT) had 11 kills and fellow Broadus Hawk Mia Mader chipped in 2 aces. Bailey Nowicki (Miles City, MT) had 26 assists from her setter position. 

The Pioneers fell to 7-9 overall and still sit at 3-3 in MonDak Conference play. MCC will take a break from conference play this weekend when they travel to Torrington, WY for a 11:00 AM match vs. #25 ranked Western Nebraska Cougars followed by a 3:00 PM match against Eastern Wyoming. They will then head to Casper, WY for a match against Casper College on Saturday at 2:00.