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Pioneers Go 1-2 in Wyoming; Defeat 20th Ranked Western Nebraska

Pioneers Go 1-2 in Wyoming; Defeat 20th Ranked Western Nebraska
Posted: Sep 23, 2024

Pioneers 1... Eastern Wyoming 3 (22-25, 11-25, 25-22, 28-26) - Friday, Sept. 20

The Pioneers took on Division I Eastern Wyoming College for the 2nd time in 6 days and the results were very similar. 6 days prior, EWC handed the Pioneers a 3-1 loss in Miles City. This match would bring much of the same as the Pioneers were competitive with the Lancers but could not get over the hump in game 4 when trying to force a 5th game. 

The Pioneers were led offensively by Ashtynn Egan (Colstrip, MT) with 11 kills. Bailey Nowicki (Miles City, MT) set up the hitters with 29 assists and Mia Mader (Broadus, MT) had 3 service aces. Defensively, Bree Swanson (Chinook, MT) had 31 digs and Hattie Bumgarner (Belt, MT) had 6 blocks. Eastern Wyoming is 12-6 on the season. 

Pioneers 3... Western Nebraska 2 (25-23, 16-25, 16-25, 26-24, 15-13) - Friday, Sept. 20

MCC snapped a 4-game losing streak with a major upset of NJCAA D1 powerhouse Western Nebraska. The Cougars came in to the match with a 12-5 record and were ranked #20 in the latest NJCAA Volleyball power poll. The Pioneers won game 1 and then dropped the next 2 games before winning the next 2 tightly contested games. 

Offensively, Zeason Schaffer (Broadus, MT) had 17 kills, Ashtynn Egan finished with 16, and Kodiann Lynn (Simms, MT) had 14 kills in a balanced offensive attack. Bailey Nowicki dished out 47 assists to go along with 2 service aces. Brylee Lowell (Columbus, MT) had 3 service aces to lead the Pioneers. On defense, Bree Swanson had 20 digs and Egan had 18. Kodiann Lynn had 4 block. Western Nebraska is 14-6 on the season. 

Pioneers 0... Casper College 3 (20-25, 17-25, 18-25) - Saturday, Sept. 21

The thrill of Friday's big victory over Western Nebraska turned in to the agony of defeat in a lopsided loss at Casper on Saturday. Casper's win halted a 15-game losing streak after they had won the first 2 games of the season. The Pioneers could not get anything going against th T-Birds and fell to 8-11 on the season. Zeason Schaffer had 11 kills, Bailey Nowicki dished out 32 assists, and Mia Mader had an ace. Bree Swanson had 13 digs and Ruby Gray (Billings, MT) had 2 blocks. 

The Pioneers head to Glendive to start round 2 of MonDak Conference play on Tuesday night for a 7:00 PM 1st serve. They will follow that up with a trip to Billings to face Rocky Mountain JV on Wednesday night.