SPEARFISH, S.D. – Eastern New Mexico Volleyball (1-5) picked up their first victory during the season a five-set thriller against hosts Black Hills State (3-3) at the Yellow Jacket Classic on Friday afternoon at Donald E. Young Center. In the beginning of the day, ENMU fell 3-1 against Sioux Falls.

USF 3, ENMU 1 (16-25, 11-25, 25-23, 15-25)

Leading all competitors, Darcy Dodd paced the Greyhounds attack with 19 kills. Nevaeh Rodriquez (five kills) and Sophia Valdez (four kills) also add to the offense.

Abigayle Falefia and Cayla Reyes both contributed 14 assists during the match. Three different Greyhounds found a pair of service aces: Imahni Brown, Falefia, and Halle Sanders.

Defensively, Brown turned in a team best 17 digs, while Sanders eclipsed double figures with 10 digs.

Brianna Hernandez paced the team with a pair of block assists, while Sanders and Valdez had one block assist each.

ENMU 3, BHSU 2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 15-22, 15-10)

The Greyhounds survived a five-set thriller on the back of strong defense against the Yellow Jackets. Eastern finished the match with 10 blocks and 102 digs, with four individuals providing 10 or more digs.

Three individuals posted a double-double: Dodd (15 k, 19 d), Reyes (23 a, 19 d), and Sanders (10 k, 16 d). Valdez helped the offense with 10 kills, while Reyes finished as the team leader for assists with 23.

Behind the 102 digs as a team, Brown came away with a team best 22. Falefia and Valdez both finished just short of double digits with nine digs each.

As for blocking, 10 total blocks came from six different individuals as Randi Crandall led the team with five total blocks. Rodriquez and Hernandez both contributed four total blocks, while Valdez was just behind with three block assists.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORES

• ENMU entered a five-set match for the first time this season, recording season highs in blocks, digs, kills, points, and assists.
• The Greyhounds surpassed 100 digs in a match for the first time since 10/21/22 against Cameron (107).
• Reyes picked up their second double-double of the season, while marking the first for Dodd and Sanders. Dodd set highs for kills (19 against USF) and digs (19 against BHSU) while at ENMU, while Sanders had a high for digs (16 vs BHSU) at Eastern, and Valdez posted career best for kills (10) and digs (9) against BHSU.
• Eastern played Sioux Falls for just the second time in program history, and Black Hills State for the first time ever.
• ENMU wraps up the weekend on Saturday, Sept. 14, facing Minnesota Crookston (9:30 a.m.) and South Dakota Mines (3:30 p.m.).