Bismarck State College Mystics Athletics

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. -- Bismarck State volleyball closed out the Siouxland Invitational Saturday with a split, rolling past Clarke (Iowa) in straight sets before dropping a five-set battle to Briar Cliff (Iowa), finishing the tournament with a 2-2 record.

GAME THREE vs CLARKE (Iowa)

Clarke (0)    21    18    22
Bismarck State (3)    25    25    25

The Mystics improved to 2-1 on the day with a wire-to-wire win over Clarke, hitting .142 as a team compared to the Pride's .069 clip. BSC never trailed for long in any of the three sets, closing out the sweep behind a balanced attack up front.

• Mystics Key Performers
  • Reese Duchsherer led BSC with 10 kills for a team-high 11.0 points, adding eight digs
  • Ashlee Stanger added eight kills on .250 hitting for 9.5 points
  • Ellie Baumstarck hit .312 with seven kills for 7.0 points
  • Aislyn Hogan ran the offense with 33 assists
  • Piper Harris paced the defense with 14 digs
  • Aubrey Flynn tallied six service aces to go with eight digs
• Game Notes
  • BSC out-killed the Pride 37-28 in the win
  • This is the Mystics' second sweep of the season, exceeding their total from last year.

GAME FOUR vs BRIAR CLIFF (Iowa)

Bismarck State (2)    25    24    22    25    14
Briar Cliff (3)    15    26    25    19    16

The Mystics couldn't complete the tournament sweep, dropping a hard-fought five-setter to Briar Cliff to close the Siouxland Invitational at 2-2. BSC opened with a dominant 25-15 first set before Briar Cliff rallied to take three of the next four, including a tight 26-24 second set and a 16-14 decision in the fifth. The Mystics hit .159 as a team against a Chargers squad that hit .194.

• Mystics Key Performers
  • Reese Duchsherer poured in 19 kills for a team-high 20.5 points, tied for the second-highest kill total of her career, adding 14 digs
  • Aislyn Hogan dished out a season-high 46 assists to go with 11 digs and a solo block
  • Ashlee Stanger added 10 kills for 10.0 points
  • Ellie Baumstarck chipped in nine kills for 11.5 points
  • Piper Harris led the defense with 19 digs
• Game Notes
  • Briar Cliff improved to 4-1 on the season with the win
  • The five-setter was the longest match of the tournament for BSC, only seeing three matches go five sets last season. They were 2-1 in those instances.
  • Just their second meeting all-time, the Chargers defeated the Mystics last year 3-1 in the Siouxland Invitational.

Junior Varsity

The junior varsity squad also saw action Saturday morning, falling to Morningside (Iowa) 2-0 to close out its weekend in North Sioux City. The squad looks ahead to next weekend's home JV tournament, where they'll play four total games across Friday and Saturday. 

Up Next: Home Opener vs. Mount Marty (S.D.)

The Mystics wrap up their season-opening road trip and turn their attention to next Saturday's home opener against Mount Marty (S.D.), the first-ever volleyball match at the newly-constructed Bavendick Center.

The Lancers head North currently 4-4 on the season, having dropped a 3-2 decision to Frontier Conference foe Montana Tech on Aug. 15. Mount Marty makes a stop at Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, N.D., on Thursday before traveling to Bismarck for Saturday's contest.

Game time is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29. 

isit BSCMystics.com/Tickets to secure your tickets to the first game, and be one of the first 1,000 fans to get your Mystics rally towel to commemorate the inaugural match.

Be sure to visit BSCMystics.com and download the MysticNation app to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Mystic Athletics.

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