SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (6-8 (2-2 RMAC)) are heading South to the Adams State Grizzlies and the New Mexico Highlands Cowgirls as the Yellow Jackets look to get back on track after losing their third and fourth straight games this past weekend. BHSU will start their three game road stretch this weekend before a long homestand.
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
Date/Time/Location: Adams State: October 9, 2026 at 7 PM in Plachy Hall in Alamosa, Colo.
New Mexico Highlands: October 10, 2026 at 1 PM in John A. Wilson Complex in Las Vegas, N.M.
Live Stream: RMAC Network (Pay-Per-View)
Tickets: Tickets can be purchased at the link above.
 
BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES:

• Black Hills State is now 6-10 (2-4 RMAC) as they continue to stay in the RMAC playoff race. BHSU was unable to pull off upset wins versus the defending national champions in the Roadrunners or the preseason RMAC favorites in UCCS. However, BHSU was able to take MSUD to five sets, which was the first time they won a set versus MSUD since 2016 and the first time they won two sets since 2013. However, they did fall in the fifth set.
• The Yellow Jackets were able to have a 4-4 non-conference schedule after taking out MSU Billings, Western New Mexico, UMary, and Upper Iowa in the non-conference tournaments. BHSU was able to get revenge on UMary, who beat them early in the season as they produced the best hitting percentage in BHSU's D2 history, hitting .452 over the course of the game with only six attack errors.
• The Yellow Jackets entered the season fresh off a season where they had the most wins in a season since 2021 and the most conference wins since 2022. The Yellow Jackets went 6-20 (2-12 RMAC) last season. They went 3-1 in the 1^st International Bank Homecoming Classic before entering RMAC play and pulled out two wins over Chadron, one of them in the regional pod, and a win over Western Colorado in regular conference play.
• The Green and Gold have played in four five set matches going 3-2 this season in such matches. BHSU went 2-2 in five setters last year and are 42-42 since joining D2 in matches that go five sets.
• The Yellow Jackets win over Fort Lewis was the first time since 2021 that BHSU had won their RMAC opener.
• The Yellow Jackets win over Colorado Christian was the first time BHSU has beaten CCU in Lakewood. They were 0-10 in their previous matchups at CCU.
• 6-6 was the latest BHSU has been at .500 in the D2 era passing 2013 where BHSU was 5-5.
• The Yellow Jackets are ranked in the top nine in the RMAC in five categories. They are ranked sixth in the conference in hitting percentage (.202), seventh in total attacks (2,113), eighth in team assists (675), and ninth in team digs (878), and team kills (721).
• The Yellow Jackets are featuring a pretty new team this year. They are only bringing back three players who started 15 or more games last year and only have five that started more than ten. They graduated five key seniors for the team last year and are bringing in six freshman and one transfer.
• BHSU was projected to finish 14^th in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 43 points, just ahead of Chadron State and one point behind Western Colorado. They are now in a three-way tie for tenth in the RMAC at 2-4.
• The Yellow Jackets top three hitters are all within range of each other. Izzy Saiki has been the top of BHSU's trio this year. The senior from Thronton, Colo. is in the midst of a career year. She is leading the team with 173 kills with a 2.84 kills per set mark. She is also leading on the team in aces and is second in the RMAC with 24. She has 141 digs and 13 total blocks. She had a career-high 21 kills versus MSU Denver. Saiki had her sixth double-digit kill game and third double-double of the year with 18 kills and 15 digs versus CCU. The 15 digs were a career-high and the five aces during that game were also a career-high. She had another double-double versus Chadron with 10 kills and a season-high 17 digs. This past weekend she had her career-high 21 kills versus MSUD and then had her sixth double-double of the season versus UCCS with 10 kills and 12 digs.
• Carsyn Mettler is another top hitter for BHSU.. Mettler, who has remained consistent now has a hitting percentage of .300 in nine out of 15 games this year. She is second on the team in kills with 167, a team-high .258 hitting percentage, and has 21.0 total blocks. She has reached ten kills in nine games this year, including seven of the last nine. She had a .320 hitting percentage against #6 Washburn, and then a .455 hitting percentage versus UMary. She had 13 kills and two blocks versus Upper Iowa two weekends ago, but she had 28 kills in RMAC Weekend one with 15 versus Fort Lewis and 13 versus WCU. She had a .440 hitting percentage versus WCU. She had 18 kills this past weekend. She had 17 kills with a .400 hitting percentage and three blocks versus Chadron. She had 12 kills with a .333 hitting percentage against SDM. This past weekend, she had 11 kills and a .321 hitting percentage versus MSU Denver.
• Zoie Husman has started all 14 games this year and after a fantastic tournament in Sioux Falls, she is third on the team with 155 kills and second with 21 aces. She is second with 145 digs. She also has 25 blocks, which is third on the team. Her best game of the year came versus Fort Lewis last week where she had her third double-double of her career with 21 kills and 13 digs. The 21 kills were career-high and her first time reaching 20 kills. She also had a career-high 24.5 points versus FLC as well as two total blocks. She had 17 kills versus UMary and a .667 hitting percentage, which was also a career high. She had a 17 kill, 13 dig game versus WNMU, with a career-high three total blocks. She had her second double of her season with a 13 kill, 15 dig game versus Upper Iowa, and tied her career high with three blocks.
• Elena Atkinson and Emma Kruger have had almost identical seasons. After combining for 76 assists last weekend, they combined for 58 this weekend with Atkinson leading 32 assists to 26. Atkinson sits atop with 301 assists and has averaged 4.93 assists per set this season, while Kruger has 280 and has averaged 4.67. Atkinson's best game came against Chadron State, where she had 31 assists, which the second most in her entire career. She had a .470 set percentage, which was the second-best on the year, only behind MSUB, where she had a .514 set percentage. Kruger's best game came against Fort Lewis, where she had a career-high 31 assists and 7 digs with an insane .508 set percentage. She just had a massive 30 assists, 22-dig game versus CCU with a .441 set percentage. When BHSU broke the record for attack percentage in a game in the D2 era against WCU, she had 25 assists with an impressive .568 set percentage. They are ranked ninth and 12^th in the RMAC in total assists.
• Keira Thompson has been the top libero for BHSU this year. The junior from Lakewood, Colo. who is in her second season as a Yellow Jacket has started 14 of 16 games at the libero position. She is currently leading the team with 219 digs, reaching the 100-dig mark against Upper Iowa and the 200-dig mark versus Chadron. She is averaging 4.21 digs per set and has nine aces as well. She's had over 15 digs in seven of the past eight games. Thompson had her career-high of 29 digs versus Fort Lewis, which passed her previous career-high set in the game before versus Upper Iowa of 21. She averaged 5.8 digs per set. Last weekend, Thompson earned her first RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award for having 44 digs in seven sets averaging 6.29 digs per set and reaching 20 digs in each game including 24 digs versus CCU and 20 digs in only three sets versus CSUP.
• Izabel Abril has been one of the other players to start all 16 games this year. Abril is sitting at 99 kills and is now second on the team with 40.0 total blocks. She had her Yellow Jacket career-high with 14 kills versus Fort Lewis, where she had a .417 attack percentage, and four total blocks, which is just her second time since joining BHSU reaching ten kills. She matched that mark a week later versus Christian, where she had 14 kills on a .458 hitting percentage and four total blocks. She had eight total blocks last weekend with five versus MSU Denver.
• Peyton McLeod has continued her solid career with 16 starts in 16 games this year. She is leading the team in blocks with 41.0 and has 84 kills. McLeod had a career-high 12 kills versus MSU Denver with four blocks and a .333 hitting percentage. She's had nine kills four times, but MSU Denver was her first double-digit kill game of her career.
• Head coach Grayson DuBose enters his second season with the Yellow Jackets and has a BHSU record of 12-31 (4-16 RMAC) but has 14 years of head coaching experience at the D1 level prior to joining BHSU. He was head coach at Utah State for all 14 years and has a 201-264 career record with two WAC Coach of the Year awards and one NCAA Division 1 Tournament appearance. DuBose was able to finally get his 200^th career win against Fort Lewis in the five-set thriller.

 
ADAMS STATE STORYLINES

• Adams State is currently 10-8 in conference and 4-2 in the RMAC. ASU has also won six of their last seven games taking out Westminster, Highlands twice, Fort Lewis, Chadron, and Regis with their sole loss being to Colorado School of Mines. They also have a loss to Colorado Mesa in conference play. ASU has swept four of their last seven games and beat Highlands and Chadron in five sets.
• Their non-conference schedule they went 4-6 including going 1-3 in West Texas A&M Lady Buff Classic where they lost to #RV Parkside, #RV Oklahoma Baptist, and #25 West Texas A&M with a win over Tuskegee. They then lost in a stand alone home game versus #14 Angelo State. Their final non-conference tournament was the CMU Volley in the Valley, where they went 2-2 with wins over Sul Ross State and Fort Hays State and losses to Fairmont State and #RV Colorado Mesa. They also won a standalone game versus WNMU.
• The Grizzlies are 1-2 at home this year with losses to #14 Angelo State and #RV Colorado School of Mines, but a win over Fort Lewis in the RMAC Regional Pod. Last year, they went 5-5 in Plachy Hall.
• The Grizzlies are top 25 in the country in four stats. They are ninth in total blocks (154.0), 18^th in attacks per set (38.27), 20^th and leading the RMAC in total attacks (2564), and 21^st in blocks per set (2.30). They are also second in the RMAC in team assists (750), team digs (1,050), and team kills (820).
• Adams State is a newer team this year, out of the nine players who started ten or more games last year for the Grizzlies, five are back and four have started all but one game they have played in this year.
• ASU was picked to finish in 11^th   in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 62 points. They were just behind Regis and just ahead of New Mexico Highlands. They are coming off a perfectly .500 year, where they went 15-15 overall and 7-7 in RMAC play and finished eighth in the conference and earned the final RMAC tournament bid. They are currently in a tie for fourth in the RMAC with a 4-2 record.
• Ashlyn Jones is one of the few returning players and she has been one of the best liberos in the RMAC this season. Jones is currently sitting at 315 digs and 4.70 digs per set, which is ranked first and second in the RMAC respectively. She's had double-digit digs in 17 of her 18 games and has reached 20 digs five times with a career-high 35 versus Fort Hays State. Jones is in the midst of a very hot four-game stretch, where she's reached 20 digs in three of her last four games and had 19 in the sole one she didn't reach that mark. She had 48 digs last weekend with 29 versus Chadron State
• Isabella DeLaRosa is one of the top setters in the RMAC as well ranking third in the RMAC in total assists with 528 and third in assists per set with 7.88. DeLaRosa is also leading the team in aces with 22 and is second on the team with 141 digs. She has reached 20 assists in 14 of 18 games and has reached 30 assists eight times, 40 assists three times and had a career-high 55 assists versus West Texas A&M. She earned RMAC Setter of the Week in week two with 182 assists in five games with four of those games going over 30 assists and two going over 40. This past weekend she had 51 assists with 38 versus Chadron State.
• Rowan Tribelhorn is one of the top middles in the RMAC this year. The senior from Yuma, Colorado is fifth in the RMAC in total blocks and 17^th in the country with 73.0. She is also fifth in the RMAC and 37^th in the country in blocks per set with 1.11. She also has 96 kills and is leading the team in hitting percentage with .275. She's had multiple blocks in 16 games this year and has had a strong four-game stretch with 26 blocks in four games including a season-high nine versus New Mexico Highlands. This past weekend, she finished with 18 kills and 12 blocks over the two games.
• Carolisa Folau is the top hitter for Adams State. Folau is currently leading the RMAC in total attacks (641), is third in attacks per set (9.57), and is eighth in total kills with 185. She also has 17 assists and is third on the team with 137 digs. She had a strong start to the season with six double-digit kill games in eight matches, but then went eight games without reaching double digits again. However, last weekend she had 27 kills with two games and 17 kills versus Chadron.
• Head Coach Andre Foster is in his first year with Adams State. He is in his third year as a women's volleyball coach and third different team. He started his head coaching career at Nichols, where he went 6-19 and then went to New Haven for their first year in D1 and went 5-22 before going 10-8 in his first year at Adams so far. He has a career record of 21-49.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Since joining D2, BHSU is 3-11 versus the ASU all time and have fallen in each of their last four matchups versus the Grizzlies. These matchups have been close with only three games going only three sets. BHSU has taken Adams to five sets in five of their 14 matchups, including four of the last seven.
• Last year, the Yellow Jackets fell 1-3 to Adams in Spearfish. BHSU took the first set 25-21 before falling in each of the next three. Atkinson had a team-high 17 assists in that matchup.

 
NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS STORYLINES

• Highlands currently sits at 3-14 and 1-5 in RMAC play, but just landed their first RMAC win this past weekend where they took out Chadron State in five sets. The match was close too with NMHU winning the fifth set 16-14. NMHU had lost ten straight games leading into that match and then fell again on Tuesday versus in-state rivals Eastern New Mexico.
• In their non-conference schedule, the Cowgirls went 2-9 overall with three losses in the Virginia Harris/Jeanie Miller Invitational to Lubbock Christian, Western Colorado, and SW Oklahoma State. They then lost three out of four in their home tournament to Western N.M., SE Oklahoma State, and Eastern New Mexico. They lost both their regional pod games to Adams and Fort Lewis before also falling to Eastern New Mexico again. Their sole wins in non-conference was versus Sul Ross State, and NW Oklahoma State.
• The Cowgirls are currently 1-8 at home this year with the sole win being versus NW Oklahoma State. Last year, NMHU went 5-4 at home that included a win over Fort Lewis.
• NMHU is currently ranked eighth in the country in attacks per set (38.88) and are ranked top five in the RMAC in aces per set (1.69), service aces (98), and total attacks (2,255).
• Out of their six players that started over 20 games last year, only three remain for the Cowgirls, but a couple of their other key players this year, were also a contributor on the team last year as well, so their starting lineup isn't that new.
• NMHU was picked to finish 12^th in the conference in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 52 points. They were chosen just behind Adams State and just ahead of Western Colorado. Last year, NMHU put together a 12-16 season last year and went 4-10 in RMAC play as they finished 11^th in the conference. They are currently sitting in a tie for 13^th at 1-5 so far this season.
• Aziza Morris is one of the top hitters for the Cowgirls. Morris, a senior from Albuquerque, N.M., has a team leading 168 kills, 2.90 kills per set, and a .170 hitting percentage. She also has 23 blocks. She has 11 double-digit kill games and has five in the past seven games. This past weekend, she had a season-high 16 kills versus Chadron and three total blocks versus the Eagles as well.
• Elise Fourt has been one of the top middle-blockers for NMHU. She has 40 blocks this season and .69 blocks per set. She also has 95 kills, 1.64 kills per set, and a .266 hitting percentage. She's had three double-digit kills this season and all three have come in the past three games. She has a block in 15 of the 17 games this year and a season-high six blocks versus NW Oklahoma. This past weekend, she's had 22 kills and four blocks. She had a .500 hitting percentage against Eastern N.M. on Tuesday.
• Marissa Sandoval-Moya has been the top setter for the Cowgirls. She has a total of 250 assists and is averaging 4.72 assists per set. She is also second on the team in aces with 20 and has 117 digs. She has had double-digit assists in 14 games and 20 assists in four games. She has four double-doubles this year including three in the past five games. This past weekend, she had her season-high with 30 assists and had 10 digs. She also had 19 assists versus Eastern N.M.
• Meg Grose is in her third season with New Mexico Highlands and is in her fourth season as a head coach. She has a career record of 25-73 over the four seasons and 20-51 as the head coach of the Cowgirls.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• BHSU has a winning record versus the Cowgirls since joining D2. They have an 8-7 record versus NMHU. Highlands has fought back recently taking five of the last six games as BHSU did get a win in October of 2024.
• Last year, the Yellow Jackets met with the Cowgirls twice and NMHU took both games. The first one was a 0-3 loss in Spearfish and the second was a 1-3 loss in Chadron. The Green and Gold took the second set in the second match and made it to 20 points in four of the seven sets.