TOPEKA, Kan. – For the second-straight day, the Black Hills State University volleyball team split a pair of matches at the Washburn Invitational held in Topeka, Kansas.
The Yellow Jackets (2-2) opened Saturday with a 3-1 setback against the host squad Washburn University but bounced back against Pittsburg State with a 3-1 victory. Both squads are from the Mid-American Athletic Association and were part of the eight-team tournament.
Following the tournament, junior Danielle Torpey was named to the all-tournament team.
Washburn 3 Black Hills State 1
The No. 14 Ichabods took the match winning 25-19, 26-28, 25-18 and 25-10 over the Yellow Jackets. Brynn Eckhardt tallied a match-high 26 assists while Danielle Torpey totaled a match-high 15 kills.
Leanna Willer led the way for WU with 13 kills while Liz Powell tallied 34 assists for the first nationally-ranked opponent BHSU faced in 2015.
The Yellow Jackets never led in set one, and pulled within two points as late as 18-16, but five-straight points for WU opened up a 23-16 lead before prevailing 25-19.
In the second set, the Yellow Jackets opened a 14-11 lead before the Ichabods rallied back to knot the score at 15-all. The two squads rallied back-and-forth with ties at 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 and 26th points until a Shelby Mayer kill put the Green and Gold ahead at 27-26. Torpey then sealed the set with a kill at 28-26. Eckhardt assisted on both points.
The third set saw BHSU jump out to a 4-1 lead behind a kills from Mayer and Eckhardt and a pair of errors from WU. The Ichabods fought back and took a 7-5 lead until the Yellow Jackets reclaimed the lead at 9-8. With the score knotted at 8-8, a ball handling error gave Black Hills State the 9-8 lead and pushed it ahead to 10-8 on an assisted block by Cassidy Steele and Fehrin Ward.
With the Yellow Jackets holding a 14-13 lead, WU ran off five-straight points and continued to push the offensive rhythm for the 25-18 victory. That same momentum carried over into the fourth set where the Yellow Jackets couldn't find the offense in the 25-10 loss.
Black Hills State 3 Pittsburg State 1
The Yellow Jackets rallied in their second match of the day taking Pittsburg State in four sets, 27-25, 20-25, 26-24 and 25-20. Torpey had a career-best 20 kills in the performance and Eckhardt countered with 54 assists, a career-best.
The Yellow Jacket defense held Pittsburg State to a .231 attack percentage while Hayley Hansford tallied 30 assists. Lexi Fulghum had a team-best 13 kills.
Sets one and three were back and forth battles that saw the Yellow Jackets escape with two-point victories. Knotted at 25-25 in set one, Eckhardt set Torpey up for the kills for set point. Off a Mayer serve, Eckhardt took the Green and Gold dig to set up Ward for the Yellow Jacket victory.
After Pitt State took the second set, the third set was a mirror of the first, with both teams looking for momentum. This time at 24-all, Eckhardt again set Torpey up for the kill giving Black Hills State set point. With Mayer serving again, it was the Gorillas who made a mistake as Maggie Highberger had an attacking error for the Green and Gold victory.
In the fourth and final set, The Yellow Jackets pushed a 13-11 lead into a 16-12 lead as Ellise Lech had a block and Torpey tallied yet another kill. The Gorillas responded with a kill by Taylyn Schwartz. Black Hills State quickly responded with a kill by Ward and forced an attacking error for the 16-12 lead.
It was a lead BHSU wouldn't relinquish and held off a late Pittsburg State charge who pulled to within two at 22-20. But three-straight points closed out the set, and match. Eckhardt set up all three kills with Ward, Steele and Lech lifting the Yellow Jackets to victory.
After the tournament, Torpey was named to the Washburn Invitational 2015 All-Tournament Team after tallying 48 kills and an average of 3.43 kills per set.
Black Hills State has one more tournament before Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action. The Yellow Jackets travel to the Augustana Volleyball Showcase in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facing Augustana and Minnesota, Crookston on Friday. Saturday has BHSU facing Northern State and MSU Moorhead.
