SPEARFISH, S.D. – After Tuesday night's 3-0 sweep over South Dakota Mines, the Black Hills State University volleyball team prepares to take on Western State Colorado and Colorado Mesa, on Oct. 5 and 6. First serve is set at 7 p.m. on Friday and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Western State Colorado comes to the Black Hills after a 3-0 loss to Regis University. The Mountaineers hold a 0-9 conference record, and are 1-16 overall.
Leading Western on offense is junior Kirsten Companik with 102 kills. The Tempe, Ariz., native averages 1.89 kills per set. Beside Companik is Hannah Hendrickson with 410 assists, averaging 7.45 assists per set.
On defense, Kathleen Kasel totals 30 blocks for the Mountaineers, three of them being solo. Senior Cammi Baumann leads with 224 digs on the season, averaging 4.07 digs per set.
Following Friday's game, the Yellow Jackets will face Colorado Mesa. The Mavericks are tied for second with Dixie State in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 13-4 overall record, and are 8-1 in conference. Colorado Mesa is third in the RMAC with a .227 hitting percentage.
Kasie Gilfert leads the Mavericks' offense with 210 kills. The redshirt sophomore in third in the RMAC, averaging 3.44 kills per set, and is second in hitting percentage behind teammate Callie Smith, with a .423 percentage. Alongside Gilfert, Ara Norwood averages 5.97 assists per set, totaling 358 assists this season.
Colorado Mesa is led by senior libero Taylor Woods on defense with 290 digs. Woods is placed sixth in the RMAC and averages 4.75 digs per set. Gilfert also tags along on defense with 63 blocks to lead the Mavericks.
The Yellow Jackets move on to a 3-6 conference record, 6-10 overall, after defeating the SD Mines Hardrockers, 3-0, to kick off Black Hills State rivalry week.
For BHSU, freshman
Jadie DeLange leads with 131 kills, averaging 2.52 kills per set.
Sierra Stugelmeyer follows the Colorado native with 116 kills. Beside them,
Laurel Lech continues to dominate with 472 assists for the Yellow Jackets. Lech is eighth in the RMAC, averaging 8.43 assists per set.
Sophomore
Valerie Blake has 189 digs for the Green and Gold to average 3.38 digs per set this season. Alongside Blake on defense,
Sierra Stugelmeyer totals 42 blocks for the Yellow Jackets, two of them being solo.
Carisa Becerra follows closely behind with 41 blocks, four of them solo.
After the weekend, Black Hills State gets back on the road to head to southern Colorado to play Fort Lewis and Adams State, on Oct. 12 and 13. Game time is set at 7 p.m. on Friday in Durango, Colo., and 5 p.m. on Saturday in Alamosa, Colo.
