SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University volleyball team was unable to slow down the high-powered attack of No. 14 Colorado Mesa on Friday afternoon as the Mavericks secured their 14^th consecutive win of the year with a 3-0 sweep. CMU used scoring runs of 9-1 to begin set one, 12-5 to end set two, and 9-0 to begin set three as they were able to earn set wins of 25-6, 25-16, and 25-13, earning their sixth straight set win in their last seven matches.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 0, No. 14 Colorado Mesa 3
Team Records: Black Hills State 5-20 (1-12 RMAC), No. 14 Colorado Mesa 22-3 (12-1 RMAC)
Attendance: 103
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sparked by a pair of kills from Sydney Leffler and aided by a trio of blocks, Colorado Mesa jumped out of the gates with a 9-1 advantage. Black Hills State was only able to tally four kills in the frame, with two from Carsyn Mettler and one from both Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner and Abigail Renner, as they were never able to slow the momentum of the Mavericks who outscored the Yellow Jackets 25-6 in set one to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
• Colorado Mesa held an early 4-1 advantage in the early stages of set one, however Black Hills State battled back as a block by Mettler and Jaeda Davis-Golliher brought the Yellow Jackets within a point (5-4). Following a 7-1 Maverick scoring run which saw them take a 12-5 lead, BHSU again would not go away quietly as they strung together a 6-1 run of the own to claw back within two (13-11) on a kill by Randi Wellhoefer. The two point margin, however, would be all the closer that BHSU would be able to get as CMU outscored them 12-5 the remainder of the frame to earn the 25-16 set two win to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Spearheaded by another four kills from Leffler, Colorado Mesa once again jumped out to a significant lead to begin the frame as they gained a 9-0 advantage in set three. A service error and kills by Emily Freeland and Davis-Golliher slowed the Maverick momentum just enough, allowing the Yellow Jackets the opportunity to go on a brief 4-1 scoring run to cut the deficit to 18-7 on a block by Davis-Golliher and Kaitlin Carr. Despite outscoring CMU 10-7 in the final 17 points of the set, they were never able to bring the margin back within single digits as Colorado Mesa went on to win 25-13 and earn their sixth sweep in the last seven matches.
• Colorado Mesa held the advantage in points (59.0-24.0), kills (46-16), aces (9-2), assists (44-13), and digs (56-29), while Black Hills State held the edge in blocks (6-4).

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Ellie Thomas: 11 digs, 1 assist
Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner: 8 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill
Jaeda Davis-Golliher: 5 kills (.400 attack percentage), 3 blocks, 2 digs
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will conclude the 2024 season tomorrow morning at home with an 11 a.m. match against Westminster in A2 Arena.
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