PUEBLO, Colo. - The Black Hills State University volleyball team took on Colorado St.-Pueblo on Friday night in their second of three games on their current Colorado road trip. The ThunderWolves won in three straight sets (25-20, 25-16, 25-23).
The Yellow Jackets once again remained competitive for the second straight night where four out of the last six sets have been lost by five points or less and two by two points. For the second night in a row, however, the Jackets lost the second set by at least nine.
After Pueblo had a first set that saw them hit an average of just .052, they put together consecutive sets in the second and third where they hit .174 and .176 including a combined 29 kills.
The ThunderWolves averaged 14.6 kills per set while the Yellow Jackets averaged 10 per set with their best set coming in the third where they had a high hitting-percentage of .136 after going 12-of-44 on attacks with six errors.
Freshman setter, Brynn Eckhardt, provided her team with a double-double performance on the night after her 25 assists and 14 digs and two blocks. She remains in the top four in assists in the conference.
No Yellow Jacket hitter had double-digit kill totals as senior Amy O'Neill provided the most offense on the night after tallying eight kills and seven digs.
Lead blockers for the Jackets and the RMAC, Holly Hamlin and Shelby Mayer, provided a balanced attack on the night where they combined for 14 kills and five blocks. Junior libero, Kelsey Olson, led the way defensively yet again with 21 digs. Junior Meghan Sipe also was all over the court with 13 digs.
Pueblo used a trio of hitters in Morgan Wilkening, Brianna Bryant, and Sierra Moran who combined for 25 kills on the night as ThunderWolves' setter, Kacy Griffin, had a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs.
Next up for the Jackets will be their final game of the weekend at Western St. on Saturday night at 6 p.m. MT.
Be sure to check back to bhsuathletics.com, follow us on twitter @BHSUAthletics and like us on Facebook for all of the latest news and information on everything Yellow Jacket Athletics.
