LUBBOCK, Texas – The Black Hills State University volleyball team dropped two matches at the Chap Classic on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets (2-6) fell, 3-2, to Pittsburg State University, before dropping a 3-1 match to Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

PSU 3, BHSU 2 (21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 15-10)

The Yellow Jackets jumped ahead, 4-0, in the first set, and never looked back. They eventually pushed their lead out to as many as nine points over the Gorillas. A kill by Laurel Lech secured the 25-21 win, and put the Green and Gold up, 1-0.

In the second set, BHSU tried to keep the momentum, but after leading 15-12, the Gorillas used a 7-0 run to surge ahead. The Yellow Jackets climbed back within one, 19-18, but Pitt State got a side out after a timeout, and eventually tied up the match with a 25-21 set win.

The third set was all Yellow Jackets, as they started with a 5-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills by Kindra Cerrone, and one by Sierra Ward. The team would never trail in the set, and would win, 25-21. The fourth set was essentially a mirror of the third, with the Gorillas winning by the familiar score line of 25-21.

The Gorillas scored the first two points in the decisive fifth set, and while the Yellow Jackets remained within touching distance, PSU would never trail. The team would eventually win, 15-10, to take the five-set victory.

Ward finished the match with 11 kills, while Cerrone had seven and four block assists. Peyton Bodemann tallied nine kills and four block assists to help on the front line. Lech recorded 26 assists, 13 digs, and five kills, while Haedyn Rhoades (17), Valerie Blake (10), Tess Thomas (15), and Jessy Hibl (12) each put up double-digit digs.

SWOSU 3, BHSU 1 (25-16, 25-16, 16-25, 25-20)

In a rematch from the first game of the season, the Yellow Jackets were unable to defeat the Bulldogs again.

The Bulldogs led the first set from the first point, and went ahead, 1-0, in the match with a 25-16 victory. In the second set, the Yellow Jackets stayed tight with SWOSU until the two teams were tied, 5-5. The Bulldogs then began to pull away, eventually winning, 25-16, once again.

The Green and Gold responded in the third set, starting with kills by Madee Hoopman and Mariah Robinson. A kill by Bodemann put BHSU up, 10-5, and the team slowly extended its lead, and claiming the 25-16 victory to push the match to a fourth set.

The fourth set was back-and-forth early on, with the teams exchanging sideouts. With the score tied, 11-11, five consecutive Yellow Jacket errors allowed the Bulldogs to take a lead they would not relinquish. SWOSU ultimately won the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-1.

In the match, Hoopman led the squad with 11 kills. Lech recorded 31 assists, while Rhoades had 16 digs.

Next Up

The Yellow Jackets will next open the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate of games. The Green and Gold remains on the road with a Utah swing, taking on Dixie State on September 20 at 6 p.m., and Westminster on September 21 at 4 p.m.

###

Black Hills State is located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, sponsoring 13 NCAA sports with membership in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the NCAA emerging sport of women's triathlon and NIRA rodeo. For all information regarding Yellow Jacket Athletics, please visit BHSUAthletics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @BHSUAthletics.

---BHSUAthletics.com---