St. Charles, MO - The Black Hills State volleyball team finished the final day of the NCAA Transitional Tournament with an emphatic win over McKendree to finish fifth overall. The Yellow Jackets swept the Bearcats in three straight sets by scores of 25-22, 25-13, and 25-23.
Black Hills State fell behind in the first set, but battled back late by means of a serving run that carried them to an entertaining 25-22 victory. The confidence from the win in set one was enough to spill over onto the court in set two as the Yellow Jackets rolled the Bearcats 25-13 behind the hardwood cracking kills of their outside hitters. The third and final set went largely in favor of Black Hills State until a late run by McKendree narrowed the point spread. Despite the late run, the Yellow Jackets responded with composure and swagger to finish the match, closing it out at 25-23. The Black Hills State performance was orchestrated by sophomore setter Darbi Yost. Yost fueled the machine that was the Yellow Jackets with 38 assists to go along with six digs, two kills, and one block.
The Yellow Jacket offensive was firing on all cylinders with outstanding performances from sophomore outside hitters Caitlin Templeton and Amy O'Neill. Templeton was rock solid as she slammed down 16 kills with five errors on 32 total attempts for a .344 hitting percentage through the three sets. O'Neill had her signature on nearly every play as she recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs. Black Hills State also saw great production out of senior right-side hitter Kayla Drieling. Drieling posted four kills and no errors on just eight attempts for a hitting percentage of .500 in her finale performance as a Yellow Jacket.
The Black Hills State defense was a force both on and off of the net. The Yellow Jackets recorded a total of nine blocks, the majority of which came at the hand of true freshman middle hitter Holly Hamlin. Hamlin recorded two solo blocks and four assisted blocks to lead the team. The defensive effort in the back-court was controlled by freshman libero Kelsey Olson. Olson finished her impressive tournament performance with 14 digs through the three sets this afternoon, earning her an average 4.22 digs per set in the tournament. Sophomore defensive specialist Kyla Johnson also shut down the McKendree attack with eight digs of her own to go along with an ace serve.
"I am very proud of the way our team finished the tournament today," said Head Coach Sally Nichols. "Our girls really came together and played for one another. We fed off of the energy and support from our fans and we greatly appreciate the time they took to make the trip down to Missouri to support us. We would also like to thank the University and the Black Hills State athletic department for all their support and for giving us the opportunity to compete in this tournament."
The Yellow Jackets finish the 2011 season with an overall record of 11-21 and a fifth place finish at the NCAA Transitional Tournament.
