Black Hills State volleyball will play host to their second non-conference pod this week as they're set to bring Western Colorado and Westminster to town on Thursday, Oct. 26 and Friday, Oct. 28.
 
The Yellow Jackets (5-15, 0-10 RMAC) will host the WCU Mountaineers (4-16, 2-8 RMAC) on Thursday night at 6 p.m., before facing the Westminster Griffins (8-13, 5-6 RMAC) at 11 a.m. on Saturday. WCU and WU will also face off at the Donald E. Young Center, with the non-conference match set for Friday, Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. 
 
BHSU hosted South Dakota Mines last Tuesday night and fell to the Lady Hardrockers, 3-1, before traveling down to New Mexico Highlands last Friday and dropping the match in straight sets.
 
Through eight weeks of competition, Haedyn Rhoades leads the RMAC in digs, with the senior holding 361 total on the season and 4.69 digs per set. In the NCAA DII scene, Rhoades' average ranks 56^th in the nation while her total dig count sets her in a tie for 53^rd.
 
Rhoades' senior season continues to rewrite the record books as she became the sixth Yellow Jacket in program history to reach 100 career service aces in last week's matchup against South Dakota Mines. Currently sitting at 101, she needs two more aces to tie for fifth all-time, which is currently held by Debbie Sigman. Sigman, who played for the Yellow Jackets from 1999-02, currently holds the fifth spot with 103 career aces.
 
Abigail Renner remains one of the top scorers in the conference this season, with the outside hitter ranking fourth in the RMAC in total points and points per set with 283.5 points scored, averaging 3.68 per frame.
 
Emily Freeland has also proven to be a solid hitter for the Yellow Jackets, with the right-side hitter recording 19 kills and a .123 attacking percentage last week. Freeland also logged four blocking assists to aid in recording 21.0 points across both matchups in week eight.
 

BLACK HILLS STATE vs. Western Colorado  THURSDAY, OCT. 26 // 6 P.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Tickets

 
Since the regular season matchup against the Yellow Jackets on Oct. 7, WCU lost three of their last four matchups in the RMAC. They fell to Fort Lewis the following Tuesday, Oct. 10 before securing a 3-1 victory over New Mexico Highlands on Sunday, Oct. 15.
 
Last weekend, WCU hit the road for a tough lineup against UC-Colorado Springs and the No. 12 Regis, with the Mountaineers dropping both matchups in straight sets.
 
As a team, the Mountaineers have totaled a .152 attack clip and 10.8 kills per set in their campaign, recording nearly one thousand digs as a team this season. On the net, WCU averages 1.2 blocks per set as the team holds 89.0 blocks on the year.
 
WCU is led by Head Volleyball Coach, Jordan Bruere, who entered her first season at the helm of the Mountaineer volleyball program in 2023.
 
In the last meeting between WCU and BHSU, the Mountaineers emerged victorious from Gunnison after five sets.
 

BLACK HILLS STATE vs. wESTMINSTER  SATURDAY, OCT. 28 // 11 A.M. // SPEARFISH, S.D. // DONALD E. YOUNG CENTER Live Stream / Live Stats / Tickets

 
The Griffins head to town following a split weekend on the road last week, dropping a Friday night matchup against Colorado Christian before heading to Chadron State and securing a 3-2 victory over the Eagles.
 
Through RMAC play in 2023, WU has split most of their conference weekends, dropping consecutive matches only to CSU Pueblo and Regis this season.
 
WU is a lower middle-of-the-pack group in most stat categories, though the Griffins boast the second highest digs average in the conference sitting at 16.33 digs per frame, led by the efforts of sophomores Abby Reardon and Breegan Huntsman who both claim over 3.0 digs per set and over 200 digs on the season.
 
On the offensive attack, Olivia Curtis and Mailei Myers lead the team with 2.66 points per contest, with Curtis leading WU with 182 kills and a team-second 18 service aces this season, helping boost the Griffins to a team attack percentage of .182.
 
The last contest between WU and BHSU took place on Oct. 8 of last season and saw the Yellow Jackets take a 3-1 victory over the Griffins from the Donald E. Young Center. Since 2015,  BHSU holds a 5-3 record over WU.   
 
Following Saturday's game against Westminster, the BHSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will be hosting a trunk-or-treat event in the Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse. People are encouraged to show up in Halloween costumes for the event and all ages will be welcomed.