By Matt Gade

605 Sports

SPEARFISH — When he was a senior for the Winner Warriors, Blake Volmer watched as the Black Hills State University men’s basketball team won its first-ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference postseason tournament championship.

Now, as a junior guard for the Yellow Jackets, Volmer and the squad are once again the RMAC champions.

“This has been a goal since, I mean, since I got recruited here, it's been a goal to get back here,” Volmer said. “Hopefully, we can keep this rolling in the NCAA Tournament.”

Volmer doesn’t necessarily stand out on the stat sheet, but the 4.0 business administration major does everything that is asked of him, according to BHSU head coach Ryan Thompson.

“His buy-in, and attitude and consistency is as good as anyone we've ever had here,” Thompson said following the Yellow Jackets' 89-77 win over Colorado Mesa for the RMAC championship. “We got a really good team, and so some nights he plays more than others because of how talented we are at the guard position, but we can always rely on Blake to bring it every day, to execute at a really high level. 

“When you have guys like that, that makes your team significantly better, and he capitalized last night, he hit a big three in a crucial moment. Today, he had a few huge defensive stops and rebounds. So when people do things the right way, you love to see them get rewarded. And that sure is Blake Volmer.”

“I kind of come in there and do the dirty work. That's kind of what I pride myself in,” Volmer said. “And knock down some shots. If I get a corner spot up, or a chance, whatever that might be.”

Black Hills State's Blake Volmer celebrates the Yellow Jackets win over Colorado Mesa for the RMAC Conference Championship with the BHSU student section on Saturday at A2 Arena at the Donald E. Young Center in Spearfish. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

This season, Volmer is averaging over 14 minutes a game, 3.2 points per game and 2.5 rebounds. While shooting an efficient 47.1 percent from the field, 46.3 percent from three-point range.

To say the Yellow Jackets are loaded at the guard position might be an understatement. The team is led by RMAC player of the year Cam Lowe, while BHSU junior guard Jaeton Hackley was also named to the All-RMAC first team. Fellow guards Myles Johnson, a junior, and Tristan Hurdle, a senior, were named to the All-RMAC honorable mention team.

While Volmer doesn’t lead the team on the stat sheet, the junior was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Summit Award winner for the second straight year. 

The RMAC’s Summit Award recognizes the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing at the finals site of their respective sport’s championship. Summit Award winners must compete in 20 percent of the available competitions of the current season.

“It means a lot,” Volmer said of winning the Summit Award. “I mean, at the end of the day, I'm a student-athlete, basketball will come to an end at some point. So, yeah, I try to stay on top of my grades.”

Thompson described Volmer as not only a great teammate, but as a person said he was “elite.”

“He makes great decisions on and off the court, one of the best teammates I've ever coached, and just a guy that you can rely on to do the right thing in any part of his life,” Thompson said. 

Following the Yellow Jackets' RMAC postseason tournament championship and regular season conference championship, BHSU earned the No. 6 seed in the South Central Region and will face 3-seed Lubbock Christian (Texas) in the first round of the NCAA Division II men’s national tournament on March 14 at top-seeded Dallas Baptist University in Dallas, Texas.

BHSU last made the NCAA Division II tournament in 2023, reaching the Elite Eight.

Black Hills State's Blake Volmer comes away with the loose ball after a rebound during the RMAC Conference Championship against Colorado Mesa on Saturday at A2 Arena at the Donald E. Young Center in Spearfish. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)