SPEARFISH, S.D. – Black Hills State found their groove on Saturday afternoon and secured their first home victory of the season, knocking down the Westminster (Utah) College Griffins.
 
Madison Hoopman cemented herself in Yellow Jacket volleyball history as she recorded her 1000^th career kill over the Griffins, becoming the ninth Yellow Jacket to do so. Hoopman had an efficient afternoon as she recorded a .542 hitting efficiency with 15 kills on 24 total attacks.
 
Mariah Robinson had a productive game against the Griffins, notching 13 kills on 19 attempts to record a team leading .579 percentage. Abigail Renner was the kill leader for the Yellow Jackets, recording 17 kills and a pair of service aces that was good for a .394 percentage. Renner's kill total, service ace count, and total points are all season high marks for the junior. 
 
Karly Marx held most of the team assists this afternoon as she put up a season high 54 total assists. The Yellow Jackets tallied 10 service aces against the Griffins, with Kindra Cerrone leading the team with three. Haedyn Rhoades tallied a team-leading 19 digs and recorded a service ace of her own. Brooke Franklin and Renner each recorded a pair of service aces this afternoon as well.
 
"Our game plan was to come out with a balanced offense today and we did just that," said Coach Bree Davis. "We also talked about winning the serve/pass game and re-finding our footing today… I am so proud of how we kept Westminster out of rhythm. All around a great team win."
 
Set One (W, 25-18): The Yellow Jackets started the first set with a 5-1 series over Westminster, allowing them to take control of the set early on. The Griffins brought the set back to a 10-9 scoreboard, but the Yellow Jackets hammered down and recorded a pair of three-point series to put WMC down to a 16-10 deficit. The Griffins put up three in a row at the Yellow Jacket match point, but a Hoopman kill would retire the set with BHSU in front.  
 
Set Two (L, 25-22): BHSU took a 6-2 lead over Westminster to start the second set, with both teams exchanging blows that led to a 12-all tie. The Griffins stayed on the heels of the Yellow Jackets throughout the set and took their first lead on the day at 21-20. Westminster went on to score a 4-1 series over BHSU to take the win in set two.
 
Set Three (W, 25-15): The Griffins came out of the gate in set three to take a 6-3 lead over the Yellow Jackets, but scores from Robinson and Renner leveled the score to six-all. Both teams exchanged the lead four times before the Yellow Jackets put up five in a row to jump in front 16-12. The Yellow Jackets dominated the rest of the set in a 9-3 series to secure the set three win.
 
Set Four (W, 25-22): After starting the set 6-6, a Griffin service error allowed for Hoopman and Robinson to tack on four more to put the Yellow Jackets on top 11-6, with Robinson scoring three in a row. Although the Yellow Jackets maintained the lead, Westminster orchestrated enough to bring the game to a 23-20 score in the latter half of the set. The deficit proved to be too much for the Griffins as Renner and Hoopman were able to finish the Griffins off in a tight 25-22 final.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets stay in Spearfish for two more next weekend, taking on Western Colorado on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m., then the Fort Lewis Skyhawks on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 5:30 p.m.