SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Westminster women's volleyball team opened its weekend trip to South Dakota with a 3-0 loss at Black Hills State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play on Friday night.
 
Westminster (2-16, 0-9 RMAC) fell by scores of 22-25, 18-25, 21-25.
 
It was another tough offensive night for the Griffins as they were only able to record 32 kills in the match. They hit .044 for the night and saw the percentage decrease as the match went along. Black Hills State (5-13, 3-7) finished with 4 kills and .137 hitting.
 
Westminster's only lead of the opening two sets came at 1-0 in the second. The teams traded leads in the third set before the Yellow Jackets closed the match with a 9-3 run to turn an 18-16 deficit into a sweep of the match.
 
Amara Spere led the Griffins with 12 kills for her sixth straight match in double figures. She would hit .241 for the night and add seven digs. Desiree Wickwar added seven kills in defeat.
 
Taylor Gustafson posted a double-double for the Griffins with 16 assists and 11 digs. Emilie Austin tallied a career high 16 digs while Hannah Stearman had 11.
 
BHSU was led by 11 kills and 12 digs from Brynn Eckhardt.
 
The Griffins will complete the weekend trip on Saturday when they face South Dakota Mines at 3 p.m. The match will be broadcast live in the RMAC Network.