BISMARCK, N.D. — Dickinson State moved within 2 points of a sweep Wednesday night, but Bismarck State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Blue Hawks 3-2 (21-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-9) in Frontier Conference play at the Bavendick Center.
The result gave the teams a split of their regular-season series after Dickinson State defeated the Mystics 3-1 in the Frontier opener Sept. 2 at Scott Gymnasium.
Dickinson State moved to 6-15 overall and 5-9 in conference play, while Bismarck State improved to 8-11 and 6-8.
The Blue Hawks opened the match with their best offensive set of the night, putting down 15 kills with only 3 errors to hit .300. Dickinson State led 18-14 before Bismarck State pulled within a point, but the Blue Hawks answered and rebuilt the advantage to 23-18 on their way to a 25-21 win.
The second featured 8 ties and three lead changes. Dickinson State broke a 15-15 tie and eventually built a 20-16 advantage. Bismarck State fought back to make it 24-23 before Carmen Pallone delivered a kill to close the set and give the Blue Hawks a 2-0 match lead.
Dickinson State again put itself in position to finish the match in the third.
The Blue Hawks led 19-17 before Bismarck State responded with a 6-1 run to take a 23-20 advantage. Dickinson State fought back behind kills from Cate Floy and Pallone, with Floy tying the set at 23.
The Mystics answered with the final 2 points, however, getting a Jordyn Rossow kill followed by a block from Rossow and Ellie Baumstarck to take the set 25-23 and extend the match.
Bismarck State carried the momentum into the fourth and raced to a 6-0 lead, but Dickinson State steadily worked its way back. A Rylee Kogolshak ace and a Floy-Macie Wheeler block helped pull the Blue Hawks within 13-12.
Dickinson State later tied the set at 18, 20 and 21 before Bismarck State scored 4 of the final 5 points for a 25-22 victory to force the fifth.
The Mystics never trailed in the deciding set. They opened a 4-1 advantage and hit .353 with 7 kills and only 1 attack error in the frame. Pallone and Ashtynn Egan delivered consecutive kills late before Rossow finished the 15-9 win.
Pallone turned in her strongest offensive performance of the season, finishing with a season-high 21 kills and only 5 errors on 46 attempts for a .348 hitting percentage. She added 2 solo blocks, a block assist, 6 digs and an ace.
Aubrey Allison added 15 kills and 17 digs, while Floy finished with 10 kills and 4 block assists. Kogolshak directed the offense with 47 assists and added 21 digs, 4 kills and 2 aces.
Geraldyne Fernandez continued a strong defensive stretch with a match-high 33 digs. The senior has collected 70 digs over Dickinson State's last two matches after recording a season-high 37 against Dakota State on Saturday.
Dickinson State held a 115-109 advantage in digs, while both teams finished with 61 kills and 8 total blocks. Bismarck State hit .163 for the match compared with .127 for the Blue Hawks.
Dickinson State returns home Friday to face Montana Tech at 6 p.m. at Scott Gymnasium.
