CHADRON, NEB. – Black Hills State women's volleyball faced off against South Dakota Mines in a non-conference bout from the Chicoine Center on Friday night, with the Yellow Jackets securing a 3-2 victory over the Lady Hardrockers. 
 
The Yellow Jackets (5-8, 0-4 RMAC) snapped their six-game losing streak against the Hardrockers and did so in thrilling fashion. They forced a fifth set with a 25-21 set-four win and tallied a commanding 7-1 scoring run late in the fifth to win the first matchup over their Black Hills Rival. 
 
Both squads matched with seven total blocks in the match. Though the Lady Hardrockers recorded 11 service aces, BHSU held the higher hitting percentage with a combined .205 team percentage.
 
Abigail Renner and Randi Wellhoefer led the Yellow Jackets with 11 kills each, with Wellhoefer totaling 14 points and Renner just behind her, cashing out at 13. Wellhoefer finished with a team-leading .474 hitting percentage and both ladies secured service aces during the contest. 
 
Izzy Saiki was another key piece of the offensive play for BHSU as she finished the game with 10 kills, 10 points, and 15 digs.
 
Leading at the net was freshman Mianna Cardenas, with the middle-hitter leading the team with a solo block and three block assists, which helped boost the grand total for BHSU to seven total blocks on the night.
 
Emma Kruger and Hannah Lamon logged 22 and 20 assists, respectively, while Haedyn Rhoades scraped up 24 digs. Lamon and Rhoades also recorded a service ace against the Lady Hardrockers, bringing the Yellow Jacket total to four.
 
Set One (L, 25-19)
The Lady Hardrockers quickly jumped to a 4-2 lead to start the matchup, but a service error and a solo block from Wellhoefer pulled the first set to a knotted scoreboard at 4-4. Both teams traded services for the following ten rallies until a quick triple from SDSMT gave them a 12-9 lead.
 
BHSU brought themselves within one, 16-15, thanks to a few kills from Wellhoefer and Audrey Brgoch that led to a 5-2 run, but the Lady Hardrockers responded with a 4-1 run of their own to force a timeout with the Yellow Jackets down, 20-16.
 
Though they closed the gap to three points, the Yellow Jackets could not tie the set up: another kill and a pair of Yellow Jacket errors ended the first set on a 4-1 series to give SDSMT the six-score victory for the first point in the match.
 
Set Two (W, 25-22)
After a 2-2 start to the second frame, BHSU rode on three Hardrocker errors, which included a Cardenas-and-Renner block, to take the lead at 4-2.
 
SDSMT regained the lead after exchanging hands with the Yellow Jackets, 6-5, but three kills from Saiki and Wellhoefer gave BHSU a three-point lead, 9-6, which BHSU held onto throughout most of the set.
 
When it looked like the Lady Hardrockers were going to tie the match back up on a 4-1 series, a SDSMT service error and another BHSU blocking effort from Wellhoefer and Freeland kicked off another four-score burst for the Yellow Jackets to push back to a 20-16 lead.
 
A Rhoades service ace and another pair of scores from Saiki and Freeland allowed BHSU to push the lead to five scores, but four quick points from the Hardrockers brought the set to 23-21. The Lady Hardrockers push, however, was extinguished by spikes from Wellhoefer and Brgoch to even the match at 1-1.
 
Set Three (L, 25-15)
SDSMT took control of the third set with a 10-1 run over the Yellow Jackets to open play in the third. Not deterred, however, BHSU began to climb back into the frame with a 6-2 run that featured four kills from Renner and Saiki, closing the gap to 12-7.
 
Another BHSU push later in the set pulled the Yellow Jackets within three, 14-11, but a Lady Hardrocker kill and two Yellow Jacket attack errors forced the Green N' Gold to take a timeout on a 17-11 scoreboard.
 
Despite the fight shown by the Yellow Jacket ladies in the frame, SDMST took the set point by ten, holding a 2-1 match lead heading into the fourth set.
 
Set Four (W, 25-21)
After starting even through the first six rallies, the Lady Hardrockers drew up three in a row to take an early 6-3 lead, controlling the match by a small margin until a 3-1 run from the Yellow Jackets pulled the score to a slimmed 8-7 SDSMT lead.
 
The Yellow Jackets continued to push on, exchanging points with SDSMT until a 4-1 series highlighted by kills from Renner and Cardenas locked the set at 14-all.
 
SDSMT tallied two more tying scores to try and wrestle control from BHSU, but the Yellow Jackets put together a chain of consecutive scores to hold a 20-17 advantage down the wire. A Saiki kill capped a 4-1 run from the good guys and forced a timeout from the Lady Hardrockers.
 
Out of the break, another 4-1 run, this time from SDSMT, closed the gap to 21-20 and forced a timeout from the Yellow Jacket sideline. Feeding off a Brgoch point out of the timeout, Renner closed out the set with a kill and a service ace to send the game into the tie-breaking fifth.
 
Set Five (W 15-13)
Two service aces in a row gave SDSMT a 3-1 lead to begin the final frame and the Lady Hardrockers were able to maintain a two-point margin. Though BHSU brought the set to a 5-4 score, a 3-1 burst from SDSMT gave them a three-point lead at the side change.
 
Down 11-7, offensive points from Brgoch and Wellhoefer and a blocking point from Cardenas and Renner inched the Yellow Jackets closer, 12-10. Following a bad BHSU set, a kill from Renner and an ace from Lamon forced an SDSMT timeout with BHSU down by one, 13-12.
 
Another point from a Renner attack and an unforced Hardrocker error gave BHSU the lead and match point, with Emily Freeland putting a bow on the 7-1 run from BHSU and giving the Yellow Jackets the 3-2 match victory.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will stay in Chadron to take on the Chadron State Eagles on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 3 p.m.