Black Hills State volleyball (3-2, 0-0 RMAC) opened the Yellow Jacket Classic against Northern State ( on Thursday night, falling to the Wolves in straight sets and moving to 3-2 on the season.
 
BHSU was led Abigail Renner and Audrey Brgoch on offense, with each Yellow Jacket recording nine kills, a service ace, and ten points. The Yellow Jackets recorded three total blocks in the match, with the lone solo block belonging to Randi Wellhoefer.
 
NSU played efficient defense at the net, securing 11 total blocks at the net throughout the match, with 18 block assists and two solo blocks, which went to Hannah Thompson and Abby Brooks.
 
Set One (L, 26-24)
An Audrey Brgoch service ace gave BHSU the first strike of the contest, but the Wolves swiftly put up three in a row to take their first 3-1 lead of the match. BHSU brought the set back to a 6-5 scoreboard, but NSU continued to keep the pressure up with a four-point run to keep the Yellow Jackets down, 10-5.
 
BHSU continued to fight through the set, bridging the gap to a 17-17 NSU lead off a Wolves' service error and a kill from Renner that led to a 5-0 run from the Yellow Jackets. The set finished in extra services, but NSU got the 2-0 run to take the first set, 26-24.
 
Set Two (L, 25-14)
BHSU hopped in front to start the second, thanks to the leading scores from Lamon and Brgoch, but NSU caught up quickly and gained the lead, 7-5, from a 5-1 series. Another 4-1 run from the Wolves forced another BHSU timeout, pausing the set at 11-8.
 
The Wolves continued to control the set, logging another five unanswered scores to extend the lead to 16-9, as BHSU kept trying to dig out of the hole. NSU continued to have answers for the Yellow Jacket attack, recording four total blocks in the set that aided in the Wolves' 2-0 lead.
 
Set Three (L, 25-12)
A 3-0 start went in favor of NSU to begin the third, with the Wolves' extending to a 6-2 lead following points from Freeland and Brgoch. The Wolves continued to play tough offense, stretching the lead to 12-5 before the Yellow Jackets strung together a 3-1 series courtesy of Freeland and Renner to shrink the deficit to five points.
 
NSU did not let up, setting up multiple scoring runs down the stretch to take a 10-point, 21-11 lead over the Yellow Jackets. Green N' Gold went down swinging in the final serves, but the Wolves went on to secure the final set win they'd need to take a 3-0 win over BHSU.
 
Up Next
The Yellow Jackets will return to the court for their first match of day two on Friday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m. to take on MSU Billings. BHSU will close out Friday's action with another matchup at 6 p.m. against UMary.