SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Colorado Christian Cougars outlasted the Yellow Jackets on Friday night from the Young Center in a competitive match that went four sets.  CCU used a dominant fourth set victory, 25-15 to finish the match.

The Yellow Jackets most successful set on the night was their lone win in set two, where they hit a match-high .333 average after going 13-of-30 on attacks with only three errors.  The first set was one of the closest of the night after CCU won by only two points after winning 27-25.

The Cougars heated up as each set passed after improving their hitting average of .117 after two sets to .281 with a high of .306 in the fourth after 14 kills on 36 attacks and three errors.  CCU rode the back of leading RMAC hitter, Taylor Sturms, after her double-double performance that included a match-high 18 kills and 14 digs.  CCU also had a strong performance by Summer Greager who also turned in a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. 

BHSU's senior hitter, Amy O'Neill, was all over the court and provided the most balanced performance on the night after sending home 15 kills and picking up 23 digs.  Junior libero, Kelsey Olson had 23 more digs to help the defensive effort.

Junior middle-hitter, Holly Hamlin, had a .324 hitting average on the night for the Jackets after 11 kills on 34 attacks with zero errors.  Hamlin continued her dominant blocking performance as she added four more on the night to keep her leading the RMAC in the category with 1.23 blocks per set.  Sophomore, Shelby Mayer, had a match-high .545 hitting average after going 7-of-11 with just one error on attacks and had 2.5 blocks. Junior Meghan Sipe also added seven kills and 2.5 blocks to help the team tally nine total blocks to just four from CCU.

The Yellow Jackets are now the nation's fourth-best blocking team in NCAA Division II after averaging 2.68 per set and totaling 212 on the year. 

On Saturday, the Jackets will welcome the conference's first-place team in No. 15 Colorado School of Mines Orediggers (18-4, 12-1 RMAC) to the Young Center in BHSU's final Saturday home-match of the season, with the first-serve scheduled for 4 p.m MT.