SPEARFISH, S.D. – Following two consecutive weekends of home matches, the Black Hills State University volleyball team will take to the road this weekend for contests against No. 2 MSU Denver and Colorado School of Mines. The Yellow Jackets begin the trip with a 6 p.m. match-up with the Roadrunners on Friday, October 18, in Auraria Event Center in Denver, Colorado, while the weekend ends on Saturday, October 19, with a contest against the Orediggers at 5 p.m. in Lockridge Arena in Golden, Colorado.
 
GAME 1 DETAILS AT #2 MSU DENVER
Date & Time: Friday, October 18 at 6 p.m.
Location: Denver, Colo. – Auraria Event Center
 
GAME 2 DETAILS AT COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
Date & Time: Saturday, October 19 at 5 p.m.
Location: Golden, Colo. – Lockridge Arena
 
BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• Black Hills State enters this week's conference games with a 4-12 (0-6 RMAC) record after dropping a pair of home contests to Fort Lewis (3-1) and Western Colorado (3-1) as the teams returned to league play.
• In 2024 BHSU has hit .167 while averaging 11.9 kills, 10.9 assists, 1.7 aces, 17.3 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set. On the other hand, their opponents have hit .218 while averaging 13.3 kills, 11.7 assists, 1.6 aces, 18.6 digs, and 1.6 blocks per set.
• Brooke Miller and Abigail Renner lead the Yellow Jacket attack, recording 185 and 159 kills respectively for averages of 3.30 and 2.61 kills per set. Additionally, Emily Freeland makes it three players who have reached triple digits in the stat category with 105 kills with an average of 1.81 kills per set. In the RMAC, Miller ranks ninth in both total kills and kills per set, while Renner is 17^th in total kills.
• The pair of Miller and Renner have also been active on the BHSU defense, totaling 204 and 169 digs respectively for averages of 3.64 and 2.77 digs per set. With those numbers Miller has notched nine double-doubles, including a pair of 10 kill and 20 dig contests a week ago, while Renner has collected four this season.
• The duo of Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner and Elena Atkinson have paced the BHSU offense throughout the season, tallying 390 and 194 assists respectively with averages of 6.39 and 4.41 assists per set. Tuioti-Mariner has reached double digit assists in all 16 matches this year, including notching 30 or more on five occasions, while Atkinson has reached double digits in 11 consecutive matches and reached the mark of 20 or more once when she tallied a career-high with 26 against Adams State. Additionally, Tuioti-Mariner ranks seventh in the RMAC in total assists and ninth assists per set, while Atkinson is 18^th in the league in assists per set.
• Ellie Thomas leads the team with 278 digs (4.56 digs per set) and service aces with 23 (0.38 aces per set) through 16 matches this year. She set a new season-high mark of 30 digs against Adams State and has also reached 20 or more digs in six matches this season. Among the league leaders, she ranks third in total digs, fourth in total service aces, fifth in digs per set, and seventh in aces per set.
• A trio of BHSU athletes have made their presence known at the net with Randi Wellhoefer recording 53.0 blocks (0.90 blocks per set), while Jaeda Davis-Golliher and Freeland have collected 28.0 blocks (0.46 blocks per set) and 27.0 blocks (0.47 blocks per set) respectively. Wellhoefer recorded a career-high of nine blocks in last Friday's match-up against Fort Lewis and added six more against Western Colorado, making it seven contests with four or more blocks. Wellhoefer currently ranks eighth in the conference in total blocks and 11^th in blocks per set.
• Bree Davis is in her third season as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets.

#2 MSU DENVER STORYLINES

• MSU Denver enters this weekend's RMAC contests with a 14-1 (5-0 RMAC) record after earning road win at New Mexico Highlands (3-0) in their return to league play. The win over the Cowgirls was their ninth sweep of the season.
• In Monday's release of the AVCA Coaches' Poll, the Roadrunner remained at No. 2 in NCAA Division II for the fifth consecutive week.
• In 2024 MSUD has hit .312 while averaging 14.1 kills, 13.4 assists, 1.8 aces, 12.7 digs, and 2.8 blocks per set. On the other hand, their opponents have hit .143 while averaging 10.8 kills, 10.1 assists, 1.1 aces, 11.5 digs, and 1.4 blocks per set.
• Riley Anderson leads a trio of MSUD players who have reached triple digit kills this season, recording 180 kills with an average of 3.46 kills per set. Additionally, Annika Helf and Maddy Williams have notched 147 and 117 kills with averages of 3.50 and 2.25 kills per set respectively. Anderson, who has tallied ten double digit kill performances, currently ranks sixth in the RMAC in kills per set and tenth in total kills.
• With a .400 hitting percentage, Kryssa Moerman is second in the league and 18^th nationally.
• A pair of setters pace the MSU Denver offense as Delaney Eckhardt and Amel Qershia have tallied 322 and 255 assists respectively, averaging 6.19 and 5.00 assists per set. Eckhardt, who has recorded 11 matches of 20 or more assists, currently ranks ninth in the conference in total assists and tenth in assists per set.
• Helf is MSUD's player to watch at the service line as she has posted 20 aces, averaging 0.48 aces per set in 15 matches this season. She ranks second in the RMAC in aces per set.
• At libero, Abbie McCrimmon, leads the Roadrunner defense with 193 digs this year, averaging 3.71 digs per set. She has tallied double digit digs in 13 of MSUD's 15 matches and ranks tenth in the conference in digs per set and 13^th in total digs.
• The trio of Alyssa Boyte, Moerman, and Maddy Williams are the players to watch at the net, recording 68.0, 66.0, and 57.0 blocks and averaging 1.31, 1.27, and 1.10 blocks per set respectively. Williams has tallied four or more blocks in 11 contests, while Boyte and Moerman have in ten and nine matches respectively. The trio ranks top-5 in both total blocks and blocks per set, while Boyte and Moerman rank 17^th and 26^th respectively in blocks per set in NCAA Division II.
• Jenny Glenn is in her ninth season as the head coach of the Roadrunners.

SERIES HISTORY

• Since the 2011 season, MSU Denver holds a 19-0 advantage in the all-time series over Black Hills State.
• The Roadrunners won the most recent meeting between the teams on October 13, 2023, in A2 Arena in Spearfish with a 3-0 sweep with set scores of 25-12, 25-17, and 25-13.

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES STORYLINES

• Colorado School of Mines enters this weekend's RMAC match-up with a 5-10 (2-3 RMAC) record following a loss at New Mexico Highlands (3-2) last weekend which brought their losing streak to four games.
• In 2024 CSM has hit .186 while averaging 11.3 kills, 10.5 assists, 0.8 aces, 14.2 digs, and 2.0 blocks per set. On the other hand, their opponents have hit .219 while averaging 13.3 kills, 12.3 assists, 1.7 aces, 15.4 digs, and 1.9 blocks per set.
• Hannah Kinnison leads a trio of Orediggers who have reached triple digits, recording 165 kills and an average of 2.84 kills per set. Other players on the attack to watch for include Taylor Helms and Jenna McLaughlin who have tallied 130 and 103 kills respectively, and averages of 2.28 and 1.81 kills per set. Kinnison, who has notched double digit kills in eight contests, ranks 13^th in the RMAC in total kills and 17^th in kills per set.
• Kinnison is also the player to watch on the defense, leading Colorado School of Mines with 195 digs and an average of 3.36 digs per set. While notching 11 double digit dig performances, she has secured six double-doubles on the year. She ranks 12^th in the league in both digs and digs per set.
• The duo of Brinleigh Davis and Presley Powell have paced the CSM offense this season, tallying 304 and 219 assists, averaging 7.60 and 7.82 assists per set respectively. Davis has notched 25 or more assists in six contests and ranks seventh in the league in assists per set and tenth in total assists.
• The player to watch at the service line for the Orediggers is Jada Price, who has totaled ten aces on the year, averaging 0.17 aces per set. Additionally, the defensive specialist is second on the team in digs with 177 and an average of 3.05 digs per set, while notching nine double digit dig performances.
• McLaughlin is the player to watch at the net for Colorado School of Mines as she leads the team with 54.0 blocks and an average of 0.95 blocks per set. The freshman middle blocker has posted five or more blocks in five games, including a ten block outing against Saint Martin's. She ranks seventh in the RMAC in both total blocks and blocks per set.
• Jamie Magalei is in her 17^th season as the head coach of the Orediggers.

SERIES HISTORY

• Since the 2012 season Colorado School of Mines holds a 15-1 lead in the all-time series over Black Hills State.
• With a 3-1 win in the most recent meeting, the Orediggers defeated the Yellow Jackets in A2 Arena on October 14, 2023, by set scores of 22-25, 25-14, 25-13, and 25-20.