BILLINGS, Mont. - Black Hills State women's volleyball opened the season with a pair of matches at the MSU Billings' Yellowjacket Invitational on Saturday, dropping game one to Lubbock Christian, 3-1, before later grabbing their first win of the season against Southeastern Oklahoma, 3-1.
 
MATCH ONE (L, 3-1)
 
Despite the 3-1 loss in the first match, the Yellow Jackets (0-1, 0-0 RMAC) fought well in game one as three players held double-digit kills against the Lady Chaps (1-0, 0-0 LSC). Leading the pack was sophomore Audrey Brgoch who secured 15 kills and a .400 attack percentage against LSC. She also served up a pair of aces in the first match to lead the team with 17 points.
 
Abigail Renner tied her teammate with 15 kills of her own while boasting a solid performance at the net with two block assists and ten digs, panning out with 16 points. Senior Hannah Lamon was vital to the attack as well, recording 46 assists and 14 digs in the contest.
 
Leading at the net in match one was Randi Wellhoefer, who held the only solo block for the Yellow Jackets along with three block assists. Alyson Louderback and Emily Freeland both shared three block assists as well, helping boost the BHSU block totals to 13. Haedyn Rhoades was solid in the debut match as well as she recorded 21 digs against LCU. 
 
Set One (W, 26-24)
After starting the game on an even 2-2 standing, the Yellow Jackets pulled away with five straight points courtesy of an LCU service error, three kills from Audrey Brgoch, and a single kill from Alyson Louderback to bring the score to 6-2.
 
The Lady Chaps climbed back to pull within two of BHSU multiple times, but the Yellow Jackets kept them at bay until a three-kill run tied the game at 14-all. BHSU continued to stay aggressive, however, as the Yellow Jackets rallied a 4-1 scoring series spearheaded by Brgoch and Louderback to put them back on top, 18-15.
 
LCU roared back and tied the set 20-20, with both teams going neck-and-neck until a kill and solo block from Abigail Renner in extra services gave the Yellow Jackets the victory in the first. BHSU finished the set with 3 total blocks at the net and had four players record four or more kills.
 
Set Two (L, 25-22)
The Lady Chaps took charge through the first services of set two, taking an early 5-1 lead over the Yellow Jackets and forcing a timeout from the BHSU sideline. After falling to a 7-2 deficit, a 7-2 run from the Yellow Jackets locked the set up at 9-all.
 
Despite back-and-forth scoring from both sides, the Lady Chaps stretched their lead to a more comfortable 19-15 score late in the set. BHSU fought back into the set, knotting the score up at 21-21, but errors on the Yellow Jackets gave enough room for the Lady Chaps to survive set two and even the match, 1-1.
 
Set Three (L, 25-17)
Nearly mirroring the first set of this match, LCU and BHSU started the third at an even 3-3 before a kill and Yellow Jacket error gave LCU a two-score lead. The Lady Chaps pinned down on the throttle as they expanded to a 17-8 lead later on.
 
BHSU began to spark back with a 5-2 run that closed the gap to a 20-13 score, but the lead built up by LCU earlier in the set proved to be too much to come back from, giving the Lady Chaps a 2-1 lead over the Yellow Jackets heading into the fourth set.
 
Set Four (L, 25-19)
The Yellow Jackets gained the upper hand early, rising to a 4-2 lead after a three-score series off the hot hands of Louderback, Brgoch, and Renner. LCU did, however, claw their way into a 7-7 tie that would turn into an 8-7 lead, their first of the fourth set.
 
Both teams were unable to create much separation as this turntable of a set saw seven tying rallies and five lead changes that left a tight 11-11 score in its wake. LCU, however, created enough momentum off a BHSU service error to record three kills in a row and force another error to help expand their lead to 16-12, the largest held by this point.
 
The Yellow Jackets fought valiantly at the end but were unable to strum enough momentum on the offensive side of the net to force a fifth set, allowing the Lady Chaps to secure the 3-1 victory. 
 
MATCH TWO (W, 3-1)
 
Renner and Brgoch once again took the reigns of the Yellow Jacket attack against Southeastern Oklahoma (1-1, 0-0 GAC), with Renner leading the way with another 19 kills on 51 total attacks, finishing match two with 19 points for BHSU (1-1, 0-0 RMAC). 
 
Brgoch and Emily Freeland both secured 10 kills against the Storm, with Brgoch also reigning in a service ace while Freeland recorded a team-leading 3 aces and a team-second 14 digs. Both players finished with 13 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
Lamon aided the attack once again as she lobbed up another 46 assists against Southeastern. The senior also recorded a kill and tied Freeland at three service aces on the match, helping bring the BHSU ace total to 10. 
 
Leading the defensive effort once again was Wellhoefer, who recorded another three solo blocks and a single block assist. Haedyn Rhoades outdid her match-one performance with 25 digs from the backcourt as well as a single ace.
 
Set One (W, 28-26)
Through half of the first set, neither team got away from each other. At a 6-5 Southeastern lead, BHSU tallied four consecutive rallies to lead 9-6, but the Storm struck right back with five of their own consecutive scores to reclaim an 11-9 advantage.
 
Ten tying scores and six lead-wrestling rallies later, both teams were square at 26-all until a Freeland ace and Brgoch spike gave BHSU the hard-fought victory in extra serves.
 
Set Two (W 25-23)
BHSU soared to a 4-1 lead to open the second set thanks to a Louderback kill and a dished-up ace from Katie Bell. A few Yellow Jacket errors kept the Storm within range, but the Yellow Jackets stayed hot on offense with another 4-1 burst to expand to a 9-4 advantage.
 
A strong fight from Southeastern saw them pull within three multiple times down the stretch, but another late 5-1 burst from the Yellow Jacket ladies stretched the lead to 19-13. Off of four BHSU errors and a pair of kills, however, the Storm climbed back with a 6-0 run to pull within one, 24-23.
 
Though the momentum was siding with Southeastern, a Renner kill kept the comeback from being complete and gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Set Three (L, 25-13)
Southeastern carried some of the momentum they had built up in the previous set, taking a 5-2 lead over the Yellow Jackets which set the tone for the rest of set three.
 
The Storm was able to maintain the lead with a chain of consecutive rallies all the way to a 20-12 scoreboard and would keep the hammer down in the finish, forcing a fourth set with a dominant 12-score lead for the win.
 
Set Four (W, 25-21)
Turning around the offensive performance from the third, BHSU went ahead 5-1 over the Storm in a series that included a pair of kills from Renner and Brgoch and a service ace from Rhoades. The Yellow Jackets kept the pressure on as a pair of 3-0 runs stretched the scoreboard to read 11-5, forcing a timeout from Southeastern.
 
Continuing to battle back, the Storm strung together a chain of bursts to freeze the set at 16-all with the assistance of three blocks and an offense that seemed to regain their rhythm.
 
Down the line, however, BHSU tallied a 5-2 run highlighted by a pair of Lamon aces to go up 23-18, helping the ladies hold on to notch the first win of the season.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will be back on the court on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 10 a.m. for their first match of the day against Minot State. In what will be the tournament finale, BHSU will wrap the weekend up with a showdown against the Marauders of UMary at 4 p.m.
 
*Upcoming Milestone*
Senior Libero Haedyn Rhoades, who currently sits at 1,802 career digs, is only 61 digs away from becoming the all-time program leader in the stat category. Lacy Stevens, who played for the Yellow Jackets from 2012-2016, is the current leader with 1,838.