SPEARFISH - In a matchup of NAIA Region III-rated teams, National American University defeated Black Hills State 3-1 in a non-conference match on Tuesday at the Young Center.

The Lady Yellow Jackets won the first game 30-22.

"We were prepared," BHSU coach Jhett Albers said. "We were fired up. We felt in order to make it a competitive match, we had to get off to a good start."

"They (Lady Jackets) passed the ball well," said NAU coach Todd Lowery. "We missed a lot of serves."

The defending national champion Lady Mavericks won the next three games 30-26, 31-29, 30-20. NAU, rated No. 1 in Region III and No. 6 nationally, improved to 19-6 overall.

"We put a couple of players in for offense," said Lowery. "We served better and had more offense on the court."

The Lady Mavericks were led by Daniela Oliveira, a junior outside hitter and one of seven players from Brazil on the NAU roster. "Daniela takes 40 to 50 hits a game," said Lowery.

Leslie DaSilva, the lone senior on the roster, returned to the lineup after missing the last month and a half.

"They (NAU) blocked much better at the net in Games 2, 3 and 4," said Albers. "We handled their serves pretty well early, but struggled in Game 4."

BHSU dropped its first home match of the season to fall to 19-3 overall.

"This match showed we can compete at a high level and where we are at," said Albers, whose Lady Jackets are ranked eighth in the Region III poll.

"Black Hills State is doing a great job," said Lowery. "Kristin Engle and Maggie O'Neill are good players. Black Hills is on the verge of turning the corner (in the national rankings)."

Engle and O'Neill had 12 and 10 kills, respectively, for BHSU. Engle chipped in six assisted and two solo blocks. Carly Benz contributed four assists and one solo block. Mandy Brumfield collected 40 set assists.

BHSU, 8-2 in the Dakota Athletic Conference, hosts Dakota State on Friday and Jamestown College on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. at the Young Center.

"On Friday night, we want to win to get to 20 wins," said Albers. BHSU finished 20-10 in 2006.

Jamestown College handed BHSU one of its two conference losses in the teams' earlier match-up in North Dakota.

"We'd like to prove we're better than Jamestown," said Albers.

NAU competes in the Madonna, Mich., Tournament on Friday and Saturday.