REGION XIII PLAYOFFS

Pioneers 3... Dakota County Tech 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-20)

The MCC Pioneers made short work of Dakota County Tech to advance to the semifinals of the Region XIII Volleyball tournament on Saturday at Bismarck State College. 

Game #1 was down to the wire after the Pioneers got off to a slow start but battled back to take a 25-23 game and a 1-0 lead. Games 2 and 3 were less heart pounding as the Pioneers eased past the Blue Knights 25-19 and 25-20. 

Ashtynn Egan (Colstrip, MT) led the way for attacks at the net with 12 kills and Zeason Schaffer (Broadus, MT) added 11 kills. Bailey Nowicki (Miles City, MT) picked up 34 assists to the front line hitters. Bree Swanson (Chinook, MT) had 14 digs on the defensive side of the net while Hattie Bumgarner (Belt, MT) had 3 blocks. Nowicki and Brylee Lowell (Columbus, MT) each had a couple of aces. 

 Pioneers 2... NDSCS 3 (25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 18-25, 10-15)

The Region XIII Championship game was in the sights of the MCC Pioneer volleyball team. Leading 2 games to none and having a 5-0 lead in game #3, the Pioneers stumbled down the stretch losing game 3 and ending their season with a 19-16 record. MCC was vying for their 2nd Region XIII championship game in the past 4 years, but the Wildcats had different ideas. The Perennial Region XIII power Wildcats quickly turned the table to return to yet another Region XIII Title match. 

Kodiann Lynn (Simms, MT) finished with 16 kills and 5 block in the match. , Ashytnn Egan added 14, and Zeason Schaffer came up with 13 in the losing effort. Bailey Nowicki turned up with 45 assists to trigger the Pioneer offense. Bree Swanson had 27 digs and Egan had 2 aces. This was the final game for Pioneer Sophomores Bailey Nowicki, Kodiann Lynn, Ashtynn Egan, Bree Swanson, Hattie Bumgarner, and Skyla Pierson. 

Egan connected on her 500th career kill and Nowicki surpassed the 1,000 assist mark for the season. 

MCC finished the season with a 19-16 record.