SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team will close out the 2024 season at home this weekend as they are set to host No. 14 Colorado Mesa and Westminster. The Yellow Jackets and Mavericks will open the weekend action with a 2 p.m. first serve on Friday, November 15, while BHSU will then take on WU in an 11 a.m. start time on Saturday, November 16, in A2 Arena.
 
MATCH DETAILS VS. #14 COLORADO MESA
Date & Time: Friday, November 15 at 2 p.m.
Location: Spearfish, S.D. – A2 Arena
 
MATCH DETAILS VS. WESTMINSTER
Date & Time: Saturday, November 16 at 11 a.m.
Location: Spearfish, S.D. – A2 Arena
 
BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES

• Black Hills State enters the final weekend of the regular season with a record of 5-19 (1-11 RMAC) following a pair of road losses at Chadron State (3-2) and Colorado Christian (3-0).
• In 2024 BHSU has hit .170 while averaging 11.7 kills, 10.8 assists, 1.4 aces, 16.9 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set. On the other hand, their opponents have hit .224 while averaging 13.7 kills, 12.2 assists, 1.5 aces, 18.3 digs, and 1.8 blocks per set.
• The lone two seniors, Abigail Renner and Brooke Miller, have led the Yellow Jacket attack this season, recording 242 and 200 kills respectively for averages of 2.69 and 3.17 kills per set. Additionally, Carsyn Mettler, Jaeda Davis-Golliher, Emily Freeland, and Randi Wellhoefer have reached the 100 kill mark with 140, 139, 138, and 118 respectively.
• The pair of Renner and Miller have also been active on the BHSU defense, totaling 268 and 211 digs respectively for averages of 2.98 and 3.35 digs per set. With those numbers Miller has notched nine double-doubles, including three 10+ kill and 20+ dig contests, while Renner has collected seven this season.
• The duo of Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner and Elena Atkinson have paced the BHSU offense throughout the season, tallying 624 and 224 assists respectively with averages of 6.93 and 4.23 assists per set. Tuioti-Mariner has reached double digit assists in all 24 matches this year, including notching 30 or more on eight occasions, while Atkinson has reached double digits in 14 of the last 15 matches she appeared in. Atkinson reached the 20 assist mark once this year when she tallied a career-high of 26 against Adams State.
• Ellie Thomas leads the team with 407 digs (4.52 digs per set) and 28 service aces (0.31 aces per set) through 24 matches this year. She set a new season-high mark of 31 digs against NMHU and has also reached 20 or more digs in nine matches this season.
• The player to watch at the net for the Yellow Jackets is Wellhoefer who has recorded 86.0 blocks (0.98 blocks per set). She has recorded a block in 13 of the last 14 matches and has posted 20 multi-block games this year.
• Bree Davis is in her third season as the head coach of the Yellow Jackets.

#14 COLORADO MESA STORYLINES

• Colorado Mesa enters the weekend with a record of 21-3 (11-1 RMAC) following a pair of home sweep on Tuesday night over Westminster (3-0), marking their 13^th straight win.
• The Mavericks enter the week ranked No. 14 in the AVCA Coaches' Poll.
• In 2024 CMU has hit .267 while averaging 15.0 kills, 14.1 assists, 1.5 aces, 14.2 digs, and 1.9 blocks per set. On the other hand, their opponents have hit .175 while averaging 10.6 kills, 9.9 assists, 1.1 aces, 11.4 digs, and 2.3 blocks per set.
• Sydney Leffler is the player to watch on the attack for Colorado Mesa as she has tallied a team-high 343 kills with an average of 4.08 kills per set. The second player to reach 300 kills on the year was Sierra Hunt who has notched 305 kills on the year with an average of 3.63 kills per set. Leffler has posted 12 double digit kill outings in her last 13 appearances, six of which she recorded 15 or more kills in the match.
• Sabrina VanDeList has paced the Maverick offense this year as she has dished out 1,020 assists and averaged 12.14 assists per set. She has recorded 30 or more assists in all 24 matches this season and has posted 50 or more on four occasions.VanDeList has also led CMU at the service line with 36 aces, averaging 0.43 aces per set.
• The libero, Allison Waller leads the defense with 326 digs, averaging 4.08 digs per set and has reached double figures in 17 of the 23 matches she has played in this season. She has posted 20 or more digs in three games in 2024.
• The player to watch at the net for the Mavericks is Stormi Tadlock who has recorded 65.0 blocks this season with an average of 0.79 blocks per set. She has posted three or more blocks in seven consecutive matches and has reached that mark 14 times this season.
• Dave Fleming is in his 20^th season as the head coach at Colorado Mesa.

SERIES HISTORY

• Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa have met 13 times since the 2011 season with the Mavericks holding a 11-2 advantage in the series.
• CMU won their seventh consecutive match in the series with a 3-0 victory over the Yellow Jackets in Grand Junction on November 10, 2023.

WESTMINSTER STORYLINES

• Westminster enters the weekend with a 10-13 (6-6 RMAC) record following a loss at No. 14 Colorado Mesa on Tuesday evening.
• In 2024 WU has hit .171 while averaging 12.5 kills, 11.5 assists, 1.8 aces, 16.6 digs, and 1.6 blocks per set. On the other hand, their opponents have hit .195 while averaging 12.1 kills, 11.1 assists, 1.2 aces, 17.3 digs, and 2.0 blocks per set.
• The pair of Clair Cook and Breegan Huntsman lead the Griffin attack, tallying 261 and 224 kills respectively with averages of 3.03 and 2.57 kills per set. Cook has posted 14 double digit kill performances this year.
• Leila Cornejo and Josie Gerritsen have paced the Westminster offense as they have recorded 449 and 374 assists respectively with averages of 5.22 and 4.35 assists per set. Cornejo has reached the 20-assist mark in 12 contests this season.
• The player to watch at the service line for WU is Mailei Myers, who has notched 33 aces and is averaging 0.38 aces per set. She is also the player to watch at the net on defense, leading the team with 74.0 blocks and 0.85 blocks per set. She has recorded a block in eight of the last nine matches and has 15 matches of three or more blocks.
• The libero leading the Griffin defense is Alanna Lee, who has collected 369 digs with an average of 4.24 digs per set. She has reached double figures in six consecutive matches and on seven occasions has reached 20 or more digs.
• Sue Dulaney is in her third season as the head coach at Westminster. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Since the 2004 season Black Hills State and Westminster have met 11 times with the Yellow Jackets holding a 6-5 advantage in the series.
• The Griffins won their second consecutive match in the series last season in Salt Lake City with a 3-0 victory on November 11, 2023.