SPEARFISH, S.D.- The Black Hills State Yellow Jackets (6-8 (2-2 RMAC)) are coming off two losses in the RMAC Regional Pod after dropping a match to South Dakota Mines in the first game of the Black Hills Brawl Rivalry Series presented by Ford. BHSU will now host two of the top teams in the conference in reigning national champions MSU Denver Roadrunners (8-6 (3-1 RMAC)) and the Preseason RMAC favorites UCCS Mountain Lions (8-6 (3-1 RMAC)).
 
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
Date/Time/Location: MSU Denver: October 2, 2026 at 6 PM
UCCS: October 3, 2026 at 1 PM
All games will be hosted in A2 Arena in Spearfish, S.D.
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 6-8 (2-2 RMAC) and has continued to hover around .500 record this early in the season. 6-6 was the latest BHSU has been at .500 in the D2 era passing 2013 where BHSU was 5-5. They were unable to stay .500 or above as they fell in very close matches to Chadron, where they led in every category, and SD Mines. BHSU was able to pull out the second set versus the Hardrockers before dropping sets three and four to fall.
• 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 3-1 this season in such matches. BHSU went 2-2 in five setters last year and are 42-41 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.
• The Yellow Jackets are ranked in the top eight in the RMAC in seven categories. They are ranked sixth in the conference and 93^rd in the country in hitting percentage (.206), sixth in the conference team assists (595), they are ranked seventh in team digs (778), team kills (637), and team attacks (1,865), and they are ranked eighth in digs per set (14.68) and assists per set (11.23).
• 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 five-way tie for seventh in the RMAC at 2-2.
• Carsyn Mettler was another top hitter for BHSU this past week. Mettler, who has remained consistent now has a hitting percentage of .300 in eight out of 14 games this year. She is leading the team in kills with 152, a team-high .273 hitting percentage, and is tied for fourth on the team with 19 total blocks. She has reached ten kills in eight games this year, including six of the last seven. 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.
• Zoie Husman has started all 14 games this year and after a fantastic tournament in Sioux Falls, she is second on the team with 148 kills and 18 aces. She is second with 126 digs. She also has 20 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 a 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. This past weekend, she had 17 kills and 20 digs including a 12 kill, 11-dig double-double against CCU. She had her fifth double-double versus Chadron with 13 kills and 10 digs. She had a sixth double-double versus SD Mines with 10 kills and 11 digs.
• The Yellow Jackets top three hitters are all within three kills of each other. Izzy Saiki has been one of the trios of BHSU hitters this year. The senior from Thronton, Colo. is in the midst of a career year. She is third on the team with 142 kills with a 2.68 kills per set mark. She is also leading on the team in aces with 21. She has 121 digs and ten total blocks. She had a career-high 20 kills versus Western New Mexico and had a team-high 26 kills this past weekend with six aces and 23 digs. She had her second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs versus Upper Iowa. 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.
• Elena Atkinson and Emma Kruger have had almost identical seasons. After combining for 87 assists last weekend, they combined for 76 this weekend with Atkinson leading 47 assists to 29. Atkinson sits atop with 269 assists and has averaged 5.08 assists per set this season, while Kruger has 254 and has averaged 4.79. 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 assist, 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 eighth and 13^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 all 14 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 past 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 14 games this year. Abril is sitting at 88 kills and is now second on the team with 32.0 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 this past weekend versus Christian, where she had 14 kills on a .458 hitting percentage and four total blocks. She had five total blocks versus Chadron State.
• Peyton McLeod has continued her solid career with 14 starts in 14 games this year. She is leading the team in blocks with 34.0 and has 69 kills. McLeod had a career-high nine kills versus UMary in the first tournament, and then matched it again versus Upper Iowa. She then matched it twice this past weekend getting nine kills in both games versus CCU and CSUP with a .553 hitting percentage versus CCU and three total blocks. She had five total blocks versus Chadron. She then matched her career high of seven blocks versus South Dakota Mines.
• Head coach Grayson DuBose enters his second season with the Yellow Jackets and has a BHSU record of 12-29 (4-14 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 201-262 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.

 
#RV MSU DENVER STORYLINES

• MSU Denver is currently 8-6 and 3-1 in the RMAC after winning a national championship last season. The Roadrunners are coming off a 1-1 regional pod that knocked them out of the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2019. They started the year ranked #3 in the country, but fell and dropped out of the top ten for the first time since week two in 2021. They just fell to Colorado School of Mines on Saturday in three sets. It was their second loss in four games for a team who has only lost seven games versus RMAC opponents since 2021. They are still receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches' Poll receiving 21 votes.
• Their non-conference schedule was rough for the Roadrunners as they went 4-4 in the non-conference play, going 1-3 in their home tournament. They lost their season opener to #10 Ferris State before sweeping the next nine sets of that tournament. They then beat #22 Bentley to start their home tourney before falling to #21 Angelo State, #4 Concordia St. Paul, and unranked Central Missouri.
• The Roadrunners are 1-2 on the road this year with losses to #10 Ferris State and Colorado School of Mines on Saturday. Their only road win was a 3-1 victory over UCCS. They went 8-2 in road games last year.
• The Roadrunners are top five in the RMAC in six stats so far this year. They are third in the RMAC and 45^th in the country in kills per set (13.29), fourth in aces per set (1.71), assists per set (12.14), hitting percentage (.222), and match win-loss percentage (.571), and fifth in team aces (84).
• MSU Denver is almost a completely new team from last year. They have a brand new head coach and of the ten players that played in 25 of 35 matches last year for them, only four are returning and only three of them started more than ten games.
• MSUD were picked to finish in a tie for third with Colorado Mines in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 165 points, four first place votes, two second place votes, and two third place votes. They were just behind Colorado Mesa and just ahead of CSU Pueblo. They were coming off a year where they went 23-3 (13-1 RMAC) and finished as the regular season and tournament champions. They are currently tied for the lead in the RMAC with six other schools at 3-1.
• Brooke Gennerman is the sole All-RMAC team honoree from last year that has returned to MSU Denver. She was named Second Team All-RMAC last year as a freshman. Gennerman is having a fantastic year this year as one of the leaders of the team. She is fifth in the country and leading the RMAC in kills per set (4.36), 13^th in the country and leading the RMAC in points per set (4.68), 18^th in the country and leading the RMAC in total kills with 205, 19^th in the country and first in the RMAC in attacks per set with 10.96, and 53^rd in the country and third in the RMAC in total attacks (515). She's had double-digit kills in 11 of 14 games this year and had a season-high 26 kills versus Colorado Mesa. She was named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week in week one for her performance in Big Rapids, Michigan, where she put up 51 kills and had a .510 hitting percentage.  This past weekend, she had 24 total kills and had fourth double-double of the year with 14 kills and 12 digs versus CSM.
• GabriElle Brewer is the top setter for the Roadrunners and one of the top setters in the country. Brewer earned All-RMAC Honorable Mention last season. Brewer is 23^rd in the country and leading the RMAC in assists per set (10.08) and is 38^th in the country and second in the RMAC in total assists (494). She has reached 20 assists in every game this year and has reached 30 assists in 11 of 13 games since the season opener. She's had three 40-assist games and had 50 versus Colorado School of Mines in only four sets with ten digs. This past weekend, she had 68 assists with 20 digs including 12 versus Christian. She's also had an ace in ten of the last 11 games and is second on the team in aces with 17. She also has 13 total blocks.
• Mia Accomazzo is the top libero for MSUD this year and was named All-RMAC Honorable Mention last season. She currently has 195 digs this season and has 13 aces. The junior from Litchfield Park, Arizona has reached double-digit kills in ten of their 14 matches including eight straight games. Accomazzo has had 20 or more digs in four of the last seven games. She had 41 digs this past weekend versus Christian and Mines with 21 versus CSM.
• Head Coach Stacie Meisner is the new coach in charge of the reigning champions. Meisner joined MSUD after spending three seasons at Alaska Anchorage, where she went 55-35. This brings her career record to 63-41. She appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2025 after leading her team to a 23-6 record as a head coach.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Since joining D2, BHSU is 0-21 versus MSU Denver and has never beaten the Roadrunners. The last time the Yellow Jackets took a set from MSUD was in 2016.
• Last year, the Yellow Jackets fell 0-3 to MSUD, but had a great second set only falling 25-23 in that frame.

 
UCCS STORYLINES

• UCCS is also currently 8-6 and 3-1 in the RMAC. They are also coming off a 1-1 performance in the RMAC Regional Pod when they swept Regis in three sets and then fell to CSU Pueblo in five sets. The Mountain Lions have gone 3-1 in conference play so far this season that included wins over #RV Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa with their sole conference loss being to #19 MSU Denver in four sets.
• Their non-conference schedule was a little tougher for the Mountain Lions as they went 1-3 in the CSM Orediggers Classic with losses to Flagler, #RV Northern State, and Cal Poly Humboldt. They were able to get a massive five set win over #RV Rockhurst in that tournament though. They then turned around and went 3-1 at their home tournament with the sole loss being a three-set sweep from South Dakota Mines.
• The Mountain Lions are 2-0 on the road so far this season with wins over Colorado School of Mines and Regis. They went 8-3 on the road last season with two of those losses coming inside top-ten ranked MSU Denver's home arena.
• The Mountain Lions are ranked top five in the RMAC in the seven different categories. They are ranked third in team kills (688), fourth in the RMAC and 24^th in the country in total blocks (120.0), fourth in win/loss percentage (.571) and team assists (611), 37^th in the country and fifth in the RMAC in blocks per set (2.18), and fifth in hitting percentage (.220) and team total attacks (1,955).
• UCCS is also a pretty new team this year. Out of the nine players that played in over 25 matches for the Mountain Lions, only three are still on the team and are playing for UCCS.
• UCCS were picked to finish as the RMAC champions in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 187 points, eight first place votes, four second place votes, and one third place vote. They were ahead of Colorado Mesa by 18 points. They were coming off a year where they went 26-4 (13-1 RMAC) and finished as tied for the regular season and runners-up in the conference tournament before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Colorado School of Mines. They are currently tied for the lead in the RMAC with six other schools at 3-1.
• Payton Tompkins is the top player for UCCS. The junior outside hitter earned First Team All-RMAC last year and is having a pretty amazing start to this year. She is ranked 30^th in the country and first in the RMAC in total attacks (555), 37^th in the country and second in the RMAC in total kills (191), 49^th in the country and second in the RMAC in attacks per set (10.09), 55^th in the conference and second in the RMAC in points per set (4.05), and 70^th in the country and second in the RMAC in kills per set (3.47). She started her season with double-digit kills in each of her first six games, but has only reached that mark in four of her last eight. She had a season-high 21 kills versus Mesa two weekends ago. She also sits with a team-high 18 aces, is second on the team with 140 digs, and has 25 blocks. She's reached double-digit digs in nine of her 14 games including six of the last eight. Last weekend, she had 26 kills with 20 versus CSU Pueblo, two aces, 17 digs, and three total blocks.
• Sydney Hyde is the number two hitter and leading blocker for UCCS. The sophomore from Meridian, Idaho who was named Second Team All-RMAC last year, has 121 kills and is leading the team, 38^th in the country, and sixth in the RMAC in total blocks with 56.0. She is also 72^nd in the country in blocks per set (1.02). Hyde has had multiple blocks in every game this year and had a season-high seven versus St. Edward's. She had double-digit kills in four of her first seven games but hasn't had any since. Last weekend, she had 15 total kills and nine total blocks including six versus Regis.
• Aubrey Miller has been by far the top setter for UCCS this year. She sits at 292 assists through 14 games and is averaging 5.51 assists per set. She also has seven aces, 69 digs, and four blocks. Miller has reached 20 assists seven times this year including four of the last eight games. She had a massive weekend in the opening tournament with three games over 25 assists and two over 30 including a season-high 34 versus Rockhurst. Last week, she had 35 assists with 18 versus Regis and 17 versus CSU Pueblo.
• Alysse Marcoso is the top libero for UCCS. The junior from Aurora, Colorado has 221 digs, which is 95^th in the country and is averaging 4.17 digs per set. She has reached double-digit digs in all but one game this year and had 32 versus Michigan Tech. She had one of her best games of the season last week, when she had 28 digs versus Pueblo for a combined 38 on the weekend.
• Head Coach Tara Hittle is now in her fifth season with the Mountain Lions and is coming off an RMAC Coach of the Year campaign. She has a career 66-56 record with UCCS and had her first winning season of her career last year improving by 15 wins from 2024 to 2025.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Since joining D2, BHSU is 3-15 versus UCCS. They have currently lost six straight dating back to 2019 with BHSU getting two of their wins from 2017-2019.
• Last year, the Yellow Jackets fell 0-3 to the Mountain Lions in Colorado Springs. BHSU went on a late run in the first set to try to take it before UCCS finished the job and then took the next two sets.