DENVER, Colo. - The Black Hills State University volleyball team (8-21, 3-16 RMAC) finished the regular season at the Regis University Rangers (16-11, 12-6 RMAC) on Saturday night. The Jackets held tough in all three sets but Regis managed to outlast BHSU towards the end of all three sets to take the victory in straight sets 25-23, 25-18, 25-22.
The Rangers led the way throughout the match in kills and finished the game with 51 to the Jackets 36 on the night. As a team, Regis had a .254 hitting average while the Jackets finished the night 36-of-113 with 17 errors for a team hitting average of .168.
While the Jackets dropped the opening set by just two points, they did best Regis with a .289 kill average compared to Regis' average of .250. Regis had six more attacks and four more kills to help them to the two-point win in the first set.
In the second set, the Jackets had their worst hitting performance of the night after 10 kills on 36 attacks with nine hitting errors (.028 avg), while the Rangers improved to a .268 average and remained consistent with 16 kills in the set. The third set was again close, as the Jackets improved to a .179 hitting average, which included 12 kills and just five errors. The Rangers kept up the consistent play and notched 17 kills and end the set with a .244 average.
In their last match as Yellow Jackets, seniors Amy O'Neill and Caitlin Templeton, once again led the way for the Jackets as they led the offensive attack as they have kept up all season. O'Neill finished with a team-high 12 kills on 34 attacks with six errors (.176 avg). She also was again active on the defensive end to provide a balanced attack as O'Neill had seven digs, one solo block, and two more assisted blocks.
Templeton was second on the evening offensively after going 9-of-23 on attacks with five errors (.174 avg) and had one assisted block. Junior Holly Hamlin had the most balanced performance on the night as she remained in the top 20 in the country in blocks as she finished with two solo and two assisted blocks and had five kills on 16 attacks with just one error (.250 avg).
Freshman setter, Brynn Eckhardt, had another big night as she finished with 31 of the teams 34 assists and almost had a double-double after getting eight digs with one solo block. Junior libero, Kelsey Olson, finished with 16 of the team's 45 digs.
The Rangers had two players in double figures in the kill department as Caitie Breaux led Regis with 16 kills as Katie Klein threw in an additional 13 kills. One of the strengths of Regis was their setter, Jaclyn Williamson, who finished with 44 of her team's 48 assists. Sage Martinson led Regis with 14 digs as Maggie Steward had 11.
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