SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Black Hills State was unable to pull off the upset of Colorado Mesa as they fell to one of the top teams in the conference in three sets in the penultimate game of the season. BHSU gave them a challenge in set two but could not string together long enough stretches to keep the foot on the gas. The Yellow Jackets were paced by Carsyn Mettler, who continued her hot streak with another .300 hitting percentage and another game with double-digit kills.
Score: Black Hills State 1, Westminster 3
Team records: Black Hills State (9-17 (4-10 RMAC)), Westminster (5-21 (4-10 RMAC))
Attendance: 350
How it happened
- Westminster started the first set hot, winning six of the first seven points to take an early 6-1 lead. After some back and forth, BHSU went on a mini run to cut the lead to two at 10-8 with an ace from Zoie Husman and a kill from Peyton McLeod. Westminster pushed back and generated a 3-1 run to get it to 13-9. A 6-2 run with kills by Mettler and Husman tied the game at 15. However, Westminster grabbed every bit of momentum fast and took 10 points in a row to win the set 25-15.
- After each team took two of the first four points of the second set, Westminster scored five of the next seven to take a 7-4 lead, but after that it was all Green & Gold. BHSU turned on the jets and went on a 16-5 run. The run, which mostly included WC errors, was led by Husman and Mettler, who had two kills each, and Husman also had a block as BHSU held a 20-12 lead. WC won seven of the next 11 points to close the gap a bit before Izabel Abril got a big kill to win the set 25-19 and tie the match at 1-1.
- The third set started perfectly for BHSU, with Mettler recording four kills in the first six points as BHSU took an early 6-1 lead. Westminster answered, winning five in a row to tie it at 6-6 before BHSU grabbed the lead back at 10-7 thanks to a kill by McLeod and a block by Mianna Cardenas. The Griffins took four in a row to get the momentum back before BHSU added three more to take a 13-11 advantage. That was the end of the positive momentum for the Jackets, as Westminster took 13 points in a row to take a 24-13 lead and, despite three straight points from BH, the Griffins got a kill to end the set at 25-16 and take a 2-1 advantage.
- The Green and Gold held an early 7-4 lead in the fourth set before WC went on a 6-1 run to make it 10-8. After some back and forth, BHSU was only down 13-12 as WC went on a 5-2 run to make it 18-14. BHSU battled to win three in a row on a kill from Mettler and a block by McLeod and Cardenas, which made it 18-17. However, once again, the Griffins went on a massive run, this one a 7-1 stretch to end the set and take a 25-18 set win and the 3-1 match win.
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Black Hills State statistical leaders
Carsyn Mettler: 15 kills, .394 hitting percentage
Elena Atkinson: 16 assists, 1 ace, 7 digs
Zoie Husman: 5 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs
Looking ahead
The Yellow Jackets will now head into the offseason and will look to the future as they hope to continue building on the success in the first couple years of the DuBose era as they jumped from six to nine wins this season overall and from two to four wins in conference.
