RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota School of Mines women's volleyball team is at home in the King Center this coming weekend for a lone Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference matchup. After a midweek bout at Black Hills State in Spearfish, the Lady Hardrockers will play host to Westminster College this Saturday in a 3 p.m. contest.
At Black Hills State the Lady Rockers weren't able to pull out the win, losing in four sets, 3-1. The Yellow Jackets defeated SD Mines, 25-12, 25-18, 20-25, 25-13. In the team tallies, the Hardrockers went 98-125 and collected 26 kills to go along with 25 assists, 53 digs and four total blocks. The Yellow Jackets posted 43 kills and was 103-124 on the attack with 43 assists, 65 digs and 33 total blocks.
"We are seeing good things," said Hardrocker volleyball head coach
Doug Tabbert. "It isn't always equating to wins and losses but we are making progress."
Looking at Westminster College, the Griffins are currently tied with SD Mines at 0-8 in conference play. However, Westminster does hold a slight edge in overall standings since they have picked up two non-conference wins, compared to the Lady 'Rockers' one.
Some of the individual standouts this season for the Hardrockers include: sophomore
Anna Breidt, who leads the team with 130 kills. Junior
Emily Newton has also put together a quality season, tallying 129 kills and leading the team with 165.5 points.
Newton suffered an injury during play Tuesday in Spearfish and could miss a significant amount of playing time. Newton was the lone junior on the team as well as the most seasoned players. Tabbert said the Hardrockers underclassmen will have to step up and take control.
"Karen Hazard, one of our freshman outside hitters is really developing into a solid player. She had double digit kills both matches last weekend. She helped us a ton," Tabbert added.
Tabbert is remaining optimistic and continues to look forward with eight matches remaining on the schedule.
"We got to get in the weight room, Brett Miguez (SD Mines Strength and Conditioning Coach) will have a huge impact on us this offseason."
