Sagan Osborne – Dickinson State Sports & Marketing Information Director

Billings, Mont. – Dickinson State dropped a pair of games to close the North Star/Frontier CrossOver in Billings on Saturday. The Blue Hawks battled with #19 Montana Western, falling 3-2 (25-10, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 15-7), in the first match of the day before falling, 3-0 (25-22, 25-5, 25-14) to Montana State-Northern in the finale.

The Blue Hawks dropped the first set to the nationally ranked Bulldogs to start the day, but took a 10-1 lead in the second set and looked poised to even the match. Unfortunately, Montana Western mounted a furious comeback, tying the set at 16-16 before ultimately winning the set.

DSU didn't let the big comeback knock them out, however, responding to win the next two sets and force a fifth, and deciding, frame.

In the final set Montana Western regained the momentum, taking a big early lead and coasted to the 15-7 victory.

Scarlette Schwindt led the Blue Hawks with 17 kills, while Madi Wahl added 10 of her own. McKenzie Moser finished with 6 kills and 16 digs, while Ava Jahner provided a spark off the bench with six kills of her own. Rylee Kogolshak added 46 assists and 10 digs without any errors.

In the second match of the day, the Skylights of Montana State-Northern used a big block to stifle the Blue Hawk offense and cruise to the three-set victory.

MSUN had two solo blocks and 16 block assists (10 total) on the match and held the Blue Hawks to just .041 hitting overall.

Wahl put together a strong performance in the loss, gathering 9 kills on .529 hitting, while Moser and Haydin Henschel each had 6 kills.