GOLDEN, Colo. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team closed out a weekend of road matches in the Denver metro area on Saturday evening as they dropped a 3-0 contest to Colorado School of Mines in Lockridge Arena. The Yellow Jackets held leads of as many as seven points in the first set and eight points in the second set but were unable to close out the set wins, falling by scores of 25-22, 26-24, and 25-22 to the Orediggers. With an attack percentage of .226 BHSU outhit CSM who held a percentage of .211, marking the first RMAC game that Black Hills State has held the advantage in attack percentage since the conference opener against UCCS.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 0, Colorado School of Mines 3
Team Records: Black Hills State 4-14 (0-8 RMAC), Colorado School of Mines 6-11 (3-4 RMAC)
Attendance: 179
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Black Hills State jumped out of the gates with a commanding 9-2 advantage in the early stages of set one as Brooke Miller capped the scoring run of seven unanswered points with her second service ace. Colorado School of Mines then began to settle things down and chip away at the Yellow Jacket lead, trimming it down to two (14-12) before back-to-back kills by Carsyn Mettler momentarily halted the run. The Orediggers then strung together a stretch of five consecutive points to take their first lead of the frame (17-16) and would not surrender it. With back-and-forth action BHSU remained within striking distance, however, CSM took four of the final six points to earn the 25-22 win in set one to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
• Colorado School of Mines grabbed the early 4-2 advantage in set two, but it didn't take long for Black Hills State to answer back as an Oredigger attack error and a kill by Emily Freeland evened the score at four apiece. The Yellow Jackets would then extend their scoring run to 10-2 as a pair of CSM attack errors pushed the BHSU lead to six points (12-6) midway through the frame. Black Hills State eventually lead by as many as eight points (18-10) after a kill by Renner and another attack error for Colorado School of Mines. Four unanswered points for the Orediggers began to shift the momentum once again as they ended the frame with a 16-6 scoring run, taking seven of the last nine points to earn the 26-24 win in set two to make it a 2-0 match lead.
• The momentum carried over into set three for Colorado School of Mines as they ran out to a 9-3 advantage, however a kill by Freeland stalled the run and sparked a 5-2 Black Hills State run to trim the deficit to 11-8 on a block by Miller and Jaeda Davis-Golliher. The teams then responded with four unanswered points for the Orediggers and three unanswered points for the Yellow Jackets as CSM held a 15-11 lead midway through the frame. After an ace by Elena Atkinson trimmed the deficit back to three (17-14), Colorado School of Mines strung together a 6-1 scoring run to close in on match point with a 23-15 advantage. Black Hills State had one final rally in them as the Yellow Jackets put together a 7-1 scoring run of their own, sparked by a kill by Brooke Miller and capped by a kill by Mettler, to make it a 24-22 contest. Despite the momentum, the eight point deficit would be too much to overcome as the Orediggers closed out the frame with a kill for the 25-22 win to earn the 3-0 win in the match.
• Colorado School of Mines held the advantage in points (59.0-51.0), kills (45-36), assists (42-33), and digs (38-35), while Black Hills State held the edge in blocks (8-7). The teams were even with seven aces apiece. 

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Brooke Miller: 8 kills (.438 attack percentage), 4 digs, 2 aces, 2 blocks
Carsyn Mettler: 7 kills (.278 attack percentage), 3 blocks, 2 digs
Jaeda Davis-Golliher: 6 kills (.250 attack percentage), 5 blocks, 1 dig
Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner: 15 assists, 4 digs, 1 kill
Elena Atkinson: 15 assists, 2 digs, 1 ace
Ellie Thomas: 12 digs, 2 aces, 1 ace
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will remain on the road for a standalone mid-week contest on Tuesday, October 22, as the Yellow Jackets make the short drive down I-90 to the King Center in Rapid City for a 7 p.m. match against South Dakota Mines.
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