MANKATO, Minn. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches Friday afternoon at the Maverick Invitational in Mankato, Minnesota. The Yellow Jackets (2-4) fell in straight sets to Wayne State College (4-1) and Upper Iowa University (5-2) in the event hosted by Minnesota State University.
Facing No. 19 Wayne State College from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Yellow Jackets fell 25-23, 25-22 and 25-12.
In set one, the Wildcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held the advantage until an 8-0 run propelled the Yellow Jackets from a 15-12 deficit to a 20-15 lead. The run began with a service error from WSC and continued onward with Holly Hamlin serving.
Meghan Sipe had a pair of kills and a pair of blocks to go along with a kill from Kenzie Kazmer and a duo of blocks from Shelby Mayer. Wayne State battled back with six-straight points of their own to take a 22-20 lead and using enough force to pull out the 25-23 victory.
The second set again had WSC jumping out to the early lead, a 5-1 advantage that once again saw the Yellow Jackets make a comeback. This time it was early in the set as the Green and Gold turned the 5-1 deficit into a 7-5 advantage.
The run ended with a kill from Holly Hamlin off a set from Chloe Zimmer. The two squads battled back and forth throughout the set until a late 6-0 run from WSC sunk BHSU, pushing a lead to 24-21. A last ditch effort from the Yellow Jackets had Zimmer feeding Sipe for a kill to pull within two. But the 19th ranked Wildcats took the set point for the 25-22 victory and overpowered Black Hills State in the third set 25-12.
Quick Hits
- Meghan Sipe had a team-high 12 kills
- Chloe Zimmer had a team-high 27 assists
- Lacey Stevens owned a game-high 23 digs
- The Yellow Jackets had 35 total kills
In the squad's second match of the day, the Peacocks of Upper Iowa won the three sets 25-20, 25-18, 25-19.
UIU got off to a fast start in the first set, opening up a lead of 6-1 before a pair of kills from Kenzie Kazmer and Meghan Sipe got the Yellow Jackets back on the scoreboard. Down 17-12, the Yellow Jackets turned to Holly Hamlin to pull within one point at 17-16.
Hamlin started the 4-0 run with a kill, then had three-straight blocks, including one assisted block with Kazmer to give BHSU the boost.
After an Upper Iowa time out, the Peacocks opened the lead back up, prevailing to a 25-20 victory.
In the second set, a 25-18 UIU win, the Yellow Jackets and Peacocks had a back-and-forth affair through a 10-10 score. However, an 8-2 run by Upper Iowa pushed the score to 18-12, giving BHSU a hole too large to overcome.
The third, and final, set was much like the second set with the score knotted up at 10-10. Down 11-10, Danielle Torpey had a kill to once again tie the game at 11's but the Yellow Jackets again fell into a hole it could not climb out of after falling behind 16-11 and eventually falling 25-19.
The Yellow Jackets return to the second day of the Maverick Invitational facing the hosts Minnesota State at 8 a.m. followed by a rematch with Wayne State at 3 p.m.
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