SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University volleyball program opened the night by winning their seventh consecutive set dating to back to last weekend, however they were unable to fend off Montana State Billings as the visitors went on to win 3-1 in the first contest of the Yellow Jacket Classic, presented by Holiday Inn and Lucky's 13. With the first set win in their pocket already, the Yellow Jackets looked to have the momentum late in set two and be on their way to a 2-0 lead, but MSUB fended off a set point and scored the final three points to set the tone for the remainder of the match.
 
A pair of double-doubles highlighted the individual performances for the Black Hills State as Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner notched her fourth in the first five matches of the year, and Brooke Miller recorded her second of the year as she reached double-digit kills for the fourth time in 2024. As a team, despite reaching 44 or more kills for the fourth time this season, the MSUB defense held BHSU to their lowest attack percentage of the year. Additionally, the pair of Tuioti-Mariner and Elena Atkinson paced the offense for a season-high of 43 assists.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 1, Montana State Billings 3
Team Records: Black Hills State 3-2, Montana State Billings 4-1
Attendance: 374
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Black Hills State jumped out to a quick start in set one as they took ten of the first 11 points for a 10-1 advantage following a kill by Emily Freeland. Montana State Billings, however, responded with a 9-1 run of their own to pull back within one point at 11-10. A kill by Brooke Miller capped another BHSU scoring run midway through the frame to give them a 20-13 lead and enough separation to fend off MSUB late. A 7-3 run by MSU Billings allowed them to claw back within three at 23-20, but a kill by Randi Wellhoefer and an MSUB attack error clinched set one 25-20 for Black Hills State.
• Set two opened with an ace by Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner for Black Hills State, however Montana State Billings responded with three straight of their own. Kills by Miller and Freeland fueled a 5-0 Yellow Jacket scoring run as they regained a 6-3 lead in the early stages of the frame. After exchanging 4-0 scoring runs midway through the set, MSU Billings held a 16-12 but had to fend off a late BHSU push as the Green & Gold posted a 9-3 run to take a 21-19 lead on a block by Miller and Freeland. Black Hills State held set point at 26-25 as they eyed a 2-0 match lead, however those hopes would not come to fruition as MSUB took the final three points of the frame to even the match 1-1 with a 28-26 set two win.
• Black Hills State and Montana State Billings traded the first four points of the third set before MSUB seized all momentum with an 8-1 scoring run to take a 9-3 lead. BHSU would battle back to within as close as four points as Wellhoefer tallied a block and service ace on back-to-back points. From that point on MSU Billings ended the frame on a 15-4 run to win the set 25-10 as they took a 2-1 match lead.
• Back-to-back kills by Freeland and Abigail Renner gave Black Hills State the early 5-3 advantage in set four, however Montana State Billings quickly shifted the momentum in their favor with an 8-0 scoring run to take an 11-5 lead. The Yellow Jackets clawed back to within three points on a pair of occasions midway through the frame, however five consecutive points from MSUB halted the comeback. MSU Billings went on to win the set by a score of 25-18 and earn the 3-1 match victory.
• Montana State Billings held the advantage in five statistical categories, including points (70.0-57.0), kills (56-44), blocks (10-6), assists (53-43), and digs (79-78), while the Black Hills State held the edge in aces (7-4).

BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS VS. MINOT STATE
Brooke Miller: 10 kills, 19 digs, 2 service aces, 1 block
Sydnie Tuioti-Mariner: 27 assists, 15 digs, 1 kill, 1 service ace
Ellie Thomas: 19 digs, 4 assists, 1 service ace
Elena Atkinson: 11 assists, 1 dig
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will return to the A2 Arena court inside of the Donald E. Young Center tomorrow, September 13, for another pair matches in the Yellow Jacket Classic, presented by Holiday Inn and Lucky's 13. The Yellow Jackets will first face off against Eastern New Mexico at approximately 2 p.m., and then will match-up with Minnesota Crookston in the 6 p.m. contest to end the night.
  Read Full Article