SPEARFISH, S.D. – In the first match of the season in the newly renovated Donald E. Young Center, the Black Hills State University volleyball team won a five-set thriller over New Mexico Highlands.

With the victory, the Yellow Jackets improve to 4-8 overall and 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Highlands fall so 4-9, 0-4.

The Yellow Jackets won the first two sets of the match by scores 25-12 and 25-23 before the Cowgirls rallied back for 25-22 and 25-21 victories to force the decisive fifth set.

Highlands took a 6-2 lead in the fifth set before Kristen Carmichael, making her home debut as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets, called a time out to regroup.

Following the timeout, the Yellow Jackets reeled off five-straight points to take a 7-6 lead. Meghan Sipe began the run with a kill assisted by Brynn Eckhardt. A pair of attack errors along with kills from Eckhardt and Shelby Mayer pushed the Green and Gold into the lead.

The Cowgirls rallied for the next three points taking a 9-7 lead until a six-point run gave the Yellow Jackets a lead they would not relinquish.

Mayer set the tone of the streak with a kill, followed by a service ace from Meghan Sipe. Mayer again had a kill, this time coming from Lacey Stevens. Danielle Torpey had a block on the left side to give the Yellow Jackets an 11-9 lead forcing an NMHU time out.

Coming out of the break Sipe had an ace due to a rotation error on the Cowgirls. The run ended with an attacking error from Highlands.

The Cowgirls countered with the next three points to bring the score to 13-12 before a kill from Mayer put the serve back into the hands of the Yellow Jackets for match point. A blocking error from the Cowgirls gave Stevens the kill, along with giving the Green and Gold the set and the match.

Black Hills State returns to action Friday night for the "Green Out" sponsored by the Black Hills Pioneer. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Quick Hits

Meghan Sipe had a team-high 12 kills

Danielle Topry had 10 kills and five blocks

Shelby Mayer had a team high six blocks, with four coming solo

Brynn Eckhardt had 32 assists, a match high

Andrea Nunez had a match high 13 kills for New Mexico Highlands University