SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team defeated South Dakota Mines in a five set thriller, 3-2, on Tuesday night.

The Yellow Jackets won sets two, four, and five, while the Lady Hardrockers took sets one and three. The scores went as follows: 28-26, 25-14, 25-23, 25-15, and 15-6.

Black Hills State improves to 11-15 overall and 8-9 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action, while SD Mines falls to 3-24 on the season and 1-15 in RMAC action.

In set one at 20-all, the Yellow Jackets took a three point lead, with Ellise Lech smashing two down in a row, followed by an error on the Hardrockers, to give a 23-20 lead to BHSU. However, that was not enough, as SD Mines battled back to tie it up at 24-all, and force a win by two situation.

At 25-all, the two teams traded off two points until 26-all. Mikkella Reese tallied the last two points of the set to take it, 28-26, and grab a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Yellow Jackets put the Hardrockers away in set two, as Laurel Lech served for a Green and Gold 7-0 run. At 12-8, L. Lech smashed down a service ace to increase the lead to 13-8. From there, a Hardrocker error and a kill by Carisa Becerra ran the score up to 15-8, and caused SD Mines to take a timeout.

After the timeout, the Hardrockers caused two more errors and gave BHSU a 17-8 lead. Kenzie Kazmer tallied the final point of the run for BHSU to lead by 10 at 18-8 before Reese notched a kill to end the Yellow Jacket run. However, that was not enough, as Black Hills State ended the set at 25-14, and tied the match, 1-1.

Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Yellow Jackets momentum picked up again, as an error by the Hardrockers gave BHSU the go-ahead point at 9-8 and the Green and Gold kept the lead the whole match. At 14-10, Black Hills State went on a three-point run to increase the lead to seven at 17-10, and was good enough to close out the set at 25-15, and tie the match up again at 2-2.

In the final set, the two teams traded off points until 4-all when the Yellow Jackets took a one-point lead at 5-4 from a kill by Kazmer. From there, the errors got the best of the Lady Hardrockers, as BHSU ended the set at 15-6, and closed out the match with the win, 3-2.

"Tonight was such an important step for our team," said head coach Kristin Carmichael. "We won when we had to, won an emotional five setter, and won for the final time this season at home. Excited for the opportunities this win allows!"

Laurel Lech led the offense and defense, registering her third double-double of the season with 44 assists and 22 digs. Cheyenne Palu, Ellise Lech, and Kazmer all contributed to the offense as well. Palu tallied 15 kills and a .387 hitting percentage, while E. Lech had 13 kills, and Kazmer had 10. Carisa Becerra was right behind with nine.

Alongside L. Lech on defense, Sydney Ederhoff notched 21 digs, while Tara Hall had 16 and Valerie Blake had 14. Palu blocked six shots, while E. Lech had five. The team registered 10 total blocks.

The Yellow Jacket hit the road for its final regular season conference matchup against the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Friday, November 10. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.