Black Hills State volleyball hosted their final matchup under the Young Center lights on Saturday evening against Colorado Chrisitan, and despite a gritty fight from BHSU, the Yellow Jackets fell, 3-1.
 
The Yellow Jackets (5-19, 0-12 RMAC) held their own over the Cougars, recording a .255 attack percentage as a team, combining for 60 team kills, five service aces, and three total blocks on the night.
 
Emily Freeland led the Yellow Jackets with 15 kills, claiming a .225 attack percentage in the match, serving up two aces and putting up a blocking assist to finish the night with a team-leading 17.5 points.
 
Audrey Brgoch also had a night offensively, recording 14 kills on a team-high .314 clip and the only solo block for the Yellow Jackets.
 
Hannah Lamon served her role well against the Cougars as the senior tallied 45 assists in the set-up game. Lamon also claimed six kills and an assisted block, giving her 7.5 points on her night.
 
Abigail Renner finished the night with another double-double against the Cougars, with the junior dropping 14 kills and leading the team with 19 digs. Renner recorded a service ace as well, clocking out with 15 points on the night.
 
Set One (L, 26-22)
Following a 2-2 start to the match, BHSU strung together a 6-2 run to stretch their lead to 8-4. A Brgoch kill kickstarted the series and she would claim two more kills while Freeland tagged in with a spike and service ace of her own.
 
The Yellow Jackets kept the Cougars on their heels, rattling off another 4-1 burst to force a CCU timeout on a 12-6 scoreboard. CCU's Libby Goodman, however, claimed three in a row in what was a 5-0 run from the Cougars that slimmed BHSU's lead to 12-11.
 
The run stretched to an 8-1 series that gave CCU a brief 14-13 lead. Five Cougar errors, however, allowed BHSU to regain a comfortable 19-15 lead as the set drew closer to a close.
 
Nine CCU scores to three from BHSU, however, allowed for the Cougars to take a 24-22 lead; threatened with giving up the set, the Yellow Jackets forced extra services with a successful challenge and kill from Emily Freeland.
 
Despite the fightback from BHSU, CCU would escape with the first set point after the extra serves.
 
Set Two (W 25-22)
CCU got started quickly in the second, tallying eight unanswered points before BHSU began to fight back. Two Freeland kills and a Renner service ace put the Yellow Jackets on the board, leaving the scoreboard on an 8-3 lead for the Cougars.
 
Later down 11-4, a 9-4 surge from the Yellow Jackets allowed them to charge back and slim the CCU lead to one point, 14-13. Freeland and Wellhoefer bounced off each other, working in tandem to draw up a 5-1 run over CCU to put BHSU in the driver's seat at a 19-17 Yellow Jacket lead.
 
BHSU kept rolling from here, stretching the run to 8-2 and expanding the scoreboard to 22-18 in their favor. Though CCU scored a quick 3-1 run, a Renner kill and Freeland missile to the back-left CCU corner lifted BHSU to the set win.
 
As a team, the Yellow Jackets recorded a game-high .341 attack percentage, two aces, and 21 total kills, holding CCU to 14 kills.
 
Set Three (L, 25-16)
Starting fast once again, the Cougars opened the third frame with a 7-2 run, only being interrupted by an attack error and Brgoch point as they expanded their lead to 12-4.
 
Coming back to life and off the back of a pair of CCU errors, BHSU went on a 6-2 tear to pull back within four, 14-10. Kills from Louderback and Freeland, a blocking effort by the same duo, and a Haedyn Rhoades service ace pulled the Yellow Jackets back into the frame, drawing a 16-14 score.
 
Continuing to fight out of the hole, BHSU went toe-to-toe with CCU as a pair of consecutive scores from Renner forced the Cougars to retreat on a timeout as they watched their lead slim down to 19-18.
 
CCU, however, held off another BHSU comeback and held on for the go-ahead, 2-1 match lead.
 
Set Four (L, 25-17)
The Cougars started on a 5-0 run to secure the first lead of the set, and though BHSU tallied a 3-1 run to set the scoreboard to 6-3, three unanswered later gave CCU a six-point, 10-4 lead over the Yellow Jackets.
 
Another 6-2 flurry from the Cougars expanded the gap to 16-8, and despite a mighty effort from BHSU to fight back, CCU played tough and took the match with a nine-point victory in the fourth set.
 
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will wrap up the 2023 season on the road next Friday, Nov. 10, and Saturday, Nov. 11. Friday night at 7 p.m., BHSU will face off against Colorado Mesa while Saturday's matchup will feature the Yellow Jackets' season finale take place against Westminster at 5 p.m.