SPEARFISH, S.D. (Sept. 18, 2021) – The (RV) Colorado State University Pueblo traveled to Black Hills State University and swept the Yellow Jackets 25-17, 25-10, 25-7 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up. The win marks the most lop-sided victory for the ThunderWolves under Austin Albers at head coach.

Set 1

The domination did not start at from the beginning and the Pack found themselves tailing 8-3 early on. The ThunderWolves then jumped into action. The Pack put together an 8-2 run which featured kills from Maddy Wisniewski, Hannah Delor, and Jazzy Espinoza. Espinoza capped off the run with a service ace.

The Pack were knotted up at 11 with the Yellow Jackets and then took over the match without looking back. Milica Djukic started a 4-0 run with a kill to help gain a 15-11 lead over Black Hills State.

The Yellow Jackets closed the gap to 16-13 but the Pack refused to give up the lead. Megan Mattingly helped the Pack effort during a 6-0 run to expand the lead to 21-13.
After a spurt from the Black Hills State, the Pack finished off the first set with a Mattingly kill  to finish the frame 25-17.
Set 2

The second set of the night started off with an 8-2 featuring multiple kills from Payton Stack. The Yellow Jackets were able to close the gap to a five-point deficit, but the ThunderWolves refused to yield. The Pack extended the lead to 17-7 off a 6-0 run.

CSU Pueblo then extended its lead even more with another 7-1 spurt punctuated by a Sabrina King ace. Mattingly finished of the second set with a 25-10 final kill to clinch a convincing 2-0 lead heading into the third set.

Set 3

The final set of the night featured on of the most dominating sets in the history of the program. Once again, the Pack racked up blocks and kills from their blockers and hitters. The 8-2 start featured dominating defensive play by Espinoza and Wisniewski as well as a handful of kills from Wisniewski and Mattingly.

Mattingly kicked off the longest run of the season (9-0) with a kill. The untouchable run saw kills from Mattingly and Wisnewski as well as a pair of aces by Mattingly. When the 9-0 run was finished, the Pack enjoyed a 17-4 lead.

From there, CSU Pueblo cruised. The Pack coasted to a 7-0 run to close things out. Delor had two kills in the final seven points, including the final of the day. Grace Hern and Djukic also joined in on the offensive showing in the final seven points with kills of their own.

The Pack had only five attack errors in the entire match, hitting for a conference-play-best .345 attack percentage. Five different ThunderWolves tallied five or more kills including seven from Mattingly. Djukic racked up six kills and hit for .625 while Delor also tallied six while hitting .500 on the day.

The defense was also on show during the domineering performance. Espinoza owned the net with seven block assists while Wisniewski and Stack helped out with four block assists as well.

"Going into this match we talked a lot about how to be professionals on the road; how to be properly prepare to play well in someone else's gym," head coach Albers said. "Outside of the first eight points, I thought we did a really good job of that."

Albers concluded by saying, "we're excited for our first full week of practice since August. It's a great opportunity to get better fi we will stay hungry and humble."

The Pack host Colorado Christian Friday at 7 p.m. and then Metropolitan State Denver at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The return to Massari features two strong teams including the No. 6 MSU Denver squad.