COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Black Hills State volleyball opened the RMAC regular season against UC-Colorado Springs on Friday night, dropping a near reverse sweep to the Mountain Lions, 3-1, after a hard-fought fourth set.
 
The Yellow Jackets (4-5, 0-1 RMAC) were led on offense by Audrey Brgoch, who led the team with 12 kills and 14.5 points. Brgoch also secured a service ace and three block assists against the Mountain Lions.
 
Abigail Renner was the runner-up for points and score lead on the night, with Renner locking down six kills, a service ace, and seven points. The junior outside hitter also led the squad with 12 digs.
 
Hannah Lamon once again led BHSU from the service line as the senior setter recorded a team-leading three aces against UCCS and tallying 25 assists on the court. Lamon leads the team with 18 on the season.
 
At the net, BHSU raked in nine total blocks in the match, led by Randi Wellhoefer who claimed three of them with six assisted blocks, which is the highest of the season for the junior. Overall, the nine total blocks for the Yellow Jackets are a team-high in 2023.

Set One (L, 25-16)
UCCS quickly tacked on the first points of the set, taking an early 2-0 lead before a Freeman kill and a double block from Freeland and Louderback evened the scoreboard with two points per side.
 
After back-and-forth play for a stretch, which saw UCCS maintain a lead, the Yellow Jackets strolled ahead, 13-10, on a 4-0 that was fueled by a Renner strike and two service aces from Lamon, which forced a Mountain Lion timeout.
 
UCCS continued to fight out of the break and brought the set back to their advantage with a 5-0 run to regain a 15-13 lead. After another tying score from BHSU, the Mountain Lions knocked down another three in a row to take an 18-15 scoreboard and force a timeout from the Yellow Jackets.
 
The Mountain Lions continued to control the set for the remainder of the frame, taking a nine-point victory to go up one set.
 
Set Two (L, 25-10)
After UCCS began the set with a four-point, 7-3 lead, BHSU struck back with four-in-a-row to notch a 7-7 tying score. However, UCCS caught their stride once again as they took another strong lead on a 6-0 run in the middle of the set, 13-7.
 
The remainder of the set stayed one-sided in favor of the Mountain Lions, who went on to take the 2-0 advantage heading to the third set.
 
Set Three (W, 25-21)
BHSU was the first on the board in the set to begin the third frame, jumping ahead 3-0 off forced errors on UCCS and a block from Wellhoefer and Brgoch. Following a UCCS kill, BHSU ran up another five unanswered scores to command the set at 8-1.
 
The Yellow Jackets continued to roll, spurring up another 6-1 series to lead 14-2. UCCS began to chip away at the lead, however, as a 4-0 run from the Mountain Lions closed the gap to 18-9. The Mountain Lions reeled back to a 24-21 scoreboard from a late 12-4 run down the stretch, but BHSU held on to triumph in the third set to force a fourth frame.
 
Set Four (L, 25-23)
After the Mountain Lions locked in the first score of the extra set, BHSU climbed to a 3-1 lead over UCCS on a pair of kills from Brgoch. From here, the match-deciding set saw back-and-forth scoring from both sides.
 
Nine tying scores and a pair of lead changes later, the back-and-forth was broken up by four straight UCCS points, seeing the set go to an 18-14 Mountain Lions' lead down the wire. Down 21-17, BHSU pushed out a 6-2 run on Brgoch kills, a service ace from Haedyn Rhoades, and a block from Wellhoefer and Brgoch to tie the setup 23-all.
 
Despite the tough push from the ladies, UCCS held together long enough to reign in the final two points to secure the 3-1 match victory and keep BHSU from pushing a fifth set. 
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets head up to Denver, Colorado for another RMAC showdown against No. 16 Regis on Saturday, Sept. 16, with the first serve slated for 3 p.m.