Bismarck State volleyball closed its regular season with a 3-1 win at Rocky Mountain on Friday night in Billings, taking the final three sets 25-21, 26-24 and 27-25 after dropping the opener 25-23, according to the official BSC box score. The Mystics now head to Helena with an opponent settled: Montana Tech, which clinched the Frontier Conference tournament's No. 2 seed the same night, according to Montana Tech Athletics.
Reese Duchsherer led BSC with 17 kills at the Fortin Education Center, Ashlee Stanger added 11 and Jordyn Rood had nine, per the box score. Aspen Roaldson ran the offense with 46 assists, Piper Harris collected 26 digs and Summer Thomas posted five blocks as the Mystics outblocked the Battlin' Bears 9-6 and finished with eight aces to Rocky Mountain's six.
The win leaves BSC at 13-14 overall and 11-11 in Frontier play, per the box score. BSC had already locked up the No. 7 seed with Thursday's loss at Carroll, and its Nov. 5 recap set the quarterfinal for Thursday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. Central (5 p.m. Mountain) at the PE Center in Helena. Montana Tech Athletics reported that the Orediggers (21-6, 16-5 Frontier) clinched the No. 2 seed with a four-set win at MSU-Northern on Friday and will stay second win or lose Saturday because of a tiebreaker over Dakota State. BSC and Montana Tech split their season series; the Mystics beat the Orediggers in five sets at home on Oct. 17, per BSC Athletics.
In New Town, both BSC basketball teams lost Friday at the 4 Bears Event Center on the opening day of the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge Classic.
The men's game came down to the final seconds. BSC led California Prestige by 21 points early in the second half, 52-31, and by seven with 1:06 left, but CPU closed on an 11-2 run and won 77-75, BSC Athletics reported. CPU's Hanson Clark hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie it at 74 with 42 seconds left, and Jaden Malone's putback layup with 7 seconds remaining put CPU ahead for the first time since the first half, according to the box score. Alex Proctor and William Ware each scored 16 points for the Mystics (0-3), and Jah Gulley added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The women opened their regular season with a 92-66 loss to Lewis-Clark State. BSC trailed just 19-18 after one quarter before the Warriors outscored the Mystics 54-20 over the middle two quarters, according to the BSC recap. Ashley Martodam scored 17 points, 12 of them in a fourth quarter BSC won 28-19, and Natalie DeCoteau added 12. Mashae Miller and Tatem Votava had 11 each, with Votava pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. The Mystics played shorthanded: Piper Harris and Jordyn Rossow were with the volleyball team in Billings, and Harper Harris was out with an injury, the recap said.
Both teams stay in New Town on Saturday. The BSC women (0-1) face UMary at 1:30 p.m. Central, and the men take on No. 15 Eastern Oregon at 3:15 p.m., both at the 4 Bears Event Center, according to the BSC schedules. Both programs then play their first regular-season home games against Dickinson State on Friday, Nov. 20, at the Bavendick Center.
Sources: BSC volleyball box score at Rocky Mountain; BSC volleyball recap, Nov. 5; Montana Tech Athletics recap, Nov. 6; BSC men's basketball recap and box score; BSC women's basketball recap and box score; BSC volleyball, women's basketball and men's basketball schedules.
