COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team fell in its final regular season match to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Mountain Lions, 3-0, on Friday night.
The Yellow Jackets fall to 11-16 overall and 8-10 in conference action, while UCCS improves to 14-11 on the season and 11-6 in the conference.
In the first set, the two teams traded off points until 9-all, when a kill by Raelynn Edge gave the Mountain Lions the go-ahead point. From there, UCCS kept the lead until 17-16.
The Green and Gold battled back to tie the set at 17-all with a block assist by
Kenzie Kazmer and
Cheyenne Palu. The two teams traded off points for the next four points until 19-all. The Mountain Lions grabbed the lead again and managed to close out the set, 25-23, and took a 1-0 lead in the match.
In set two, the Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 4-0 lead with three kills by
Ellise Lech, followed by an error on the Mountain Lions. The Green and Gold kept the lead until 10-all when an error by BHSU gave the tying point to UCCS.
From there, the two teams traded off points until 19-all, when a kill by Grace Nelson gave the Mountain Lions a one-point lead. UCCS held on to that lead to close out the set, 25-22, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, the Yellow Jackets kept it close until 7-all, when Taylor Smith smashed one down to give the go-ahead point to the Mountain Lions. That was the start of a 6-0 run for the Mountain Lions, as they ran away with it and closed out the set, 25-13, and won the match, 3-0.
E. Lech led the way on offense with 11 kills, followed by Kazmer with five. L. Lech notched a double-double with 24 assists and 10 digs.
On defense, L. Lech led the way with five blocks on top of her 10 digs, while the team tallied seven blocks total against the Mountain Lions three.
The Yellow Jackets need Chadron State to lose its last game on Saturday night to make the postseason. If the Eagles lose, Black Hills State will travel to the No. 1 seed on Tuesday, November 14. Fans can follow the team online at BHSUAthletics.com, Facebook, or Twitter.
