Bismarck State College volleyball took the opening set Friday night at the Bavendick Center, then dropped the next three in a 3-1 Frontier Conference loss to Montana Western.
From BSC's side, the set scores were 25-23, 20-25, 23-25, 21-25, according to the official box score posted by Montana Western and BSC's season statistics report. The box score lists attendance at 636.
The loss leaves the Mystics at 8-12 overall and 6-9 in the Frontier, according to BSC's season stats, and 5-4 at home. Montana Western improves to 11-11 and 10-5. The teams split their season series; BSC won the first meeting 3-1 on the road on Sept. 12, according to the season game log.
How it happened
BSC's recap says the first set was tied nine times before the Mystics closed it on a McKenna Brendel kill. Montana Western won each of the next three sets. The box score shows the Bulldogs hit .319 in the second set and .300 in the fourth, and finished the match with a 65-47 edge in kills and a .226-to-.164 edge in hitting percentage.
The final two sets were close late. BSC's recap says the Mystics pulled within 23-22 in the third set and 19-18 in the fourth before Montana Western closed both out.
According to the box score, Reese Duchsherer and Brendel each had 12 kills, and Duchsherer added 14 digs. Ellie Baumstarck had eight kills and six block assists. Aislyn Hogan ran the offense with 42 assists and added 16 digs. Piper Harris led the back row with 23 digs, and Brooklyn Sand had 14 digs and two aces.
BSC's recap says the Mystics had just one service error to Montana Western's 12, but the Bulldogs out-aced them 8-5; the box score's team totals show the same figures.
What's next
The current homestand wraps up today, Saturday, Oct. 17, when BSC hosts Montana Tech at 3 p.m. at the Bavendick Center, according to the Mystics' schedule. The team then heads to Montana for matches at Providence on Thursday, Oct. 22, and at MSU-Northern on Friday, Oct. 23, with both matches set for 7 p.m. Mountain time (8 p.m. Central), according to the schedule. Check bscmystics.com for tickets and streaming links.
Sources: https://umwbulldogs.com/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2026/bismarck-state/boxscore/4489, https://bscmystics.com/news/2026/10/16/volleyball-falls-to-tough-montana-western-squad-in-four.aspx, https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/bscmystics.com/stats/wvball/2026/pdf/cume.pdf, https://bscmystics.com/sports/womens-volleyball/schedule/2026
