GUNNISON, Colo.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets took home the match versus the Western Colorado Mountaineers in the Paul Wright Gym in Gunnison, Colorado tonight 3-1. It was the first RMAC win for head coach Grayson DuBose in his tenure here and it is the first time BHSU has won one of their first weekend RMAC matchups since 2021. The Yellow Jackets were led by Carsyn Mettler who had 15 kills tonight including the game winner in the fourth set.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Score: Black Hills State 3, Western Colorado 1
Team Records: Black Hills State (4-6 (1-1 RMAC)), Western Colorado (1-9 (0-3 RMAC))
Attendance: 187
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• BHSU took a 2-0 lead in the first set off a kill from Peyton McLeod. After that each team were winning points with Western tying it up at 8-8. Mettler and Randi Wellhoefer each got a kill in a 3-1 run to take a 11-9 lead before the Mountaineers also went on a 3-1 run to tie it back up at 12. No team was running away with this set as whenever BHSU or Western took to the lead, the other would put points up and tie it back up with BHSU getting kills from Mettler, Wellhoefer, Emily Freeland, and Jaeda Davis-Golliher to help keep this first set close. With the score tied at 17, Western went on a 4-1 run to take a 21-18 lead which was the largest gap by either team so far this set. BHSU immediately went on a 4-2 run with two kills from Freeland and another by Wellhoefer, but even with that run, WCU won the next two points to take the first set 25-22.
• The Mountaineers started the second set on a 5-0 run and then added two more to make it 7-2. BHSU would go on their first run of the match with a 7-1 run to make it 9-8 and take the lead with two kills from Mettler, a block, and an Ellie Thomas ace. After a first set with no big runs, this one had a lot of them, with WCU immediately going on a 6-0 run to take a 14-9 lead thanks to two key blocks. Western would win four of the next six to take an 18-11 lead and putting themselves in great position to start 2-0 in the game. BHSU would respond strongly by going on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 22-20 with three kills from Mettler, an ace from Freeland, and another kill from Davis-Golliher. BHSU would silence the Mountaineer crowd by winning five points in a row to take the set in part to three blocks by the Yellow Jackets with Izzy Abril assisting all three of them. The Yellow Jackets would gain serious momentum and tie the match 1-1.
• The momentum would prove vital as the Green and Gold won seven straight points to begin the third set and would then win four of five to take a massive 11-3 lead. This start included two more kills from Mettler, two from Davis-Golliher, and two aces from Freeland. BHSU would continue their strong set by winning four of the next six points to take a 15-5 lead, which was the biggest lead by any team so far this match with kills from Davis-Golliher, Freeland, and another block from Abril. Western tried to cut the lead with a 4-1 run, but BHSU answered with a 3-1 run of their own to keep it at 19-10. The Mountaineers won five in a row after that to make it 19-15, but BH answered with another kill by Mettler in a 4-1 run that brought the score to 23-16. Western would win three of the next four points, but Abril would end the set with a kill to make it 25-19 and give BHSU a 2-1 set advantage.
• The Yellow Jackets would win eight of the first 11 points of the set with two more kills from Mettler, a kill from Wellhoefer, and another from Davis-Golliher before WCU would answer by going on an 8-2 run to take a 11-10 lead. With the score tied at 12, BHSU would get four in a row with two blocks from Peyton McLeod and would take a 16-12 lead. A 4-1 swing by the Mountaineers made it 17-16 before BH got a 4-1 jump of their own to bring it back to 21-17. Western won six of the next nine points to raise the hairs of BHSU at 24-23 before Mettler got her 15^th kill of the night to end the match and give BHSU the 3-1 win.

 
BLACK HILLS STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Carsyn Mettler: 15 kills, .424 hitting percentage
Emily Freeland: 13 kills, 4 aces, 5 digs, 17.5 points
Elena Atkinson: 25 assists, 11 digs
Ellie Thomas: 18 digs
Jaeda Davis-Golliher: 10 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs
 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will make their A2 Arena debut next weekend when they face Colorado Christian and CSU Pueblo.
 
 
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