Match Notes | v. Colorado State: Game Center

LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 21, 2016) – The University of Wyoming women’s volleyball team will conclude its regular season with one final road contest at Colorado State on Tuesday. The Border War match will begin at 7 p.m. MT.

“It will definitely be a real battle against Colorado State on Tuesday night,” UW head coach Chad Callihan said. “I hope we show it was very uncharacteristic for how this team played on Friday. I expect us to be ready to go out and compete. The Border War matches mean a lot to both programs. CSU is a great team and we will do everything we can to end the regular-season on a positive note.”

Wyoming (18-12, 11-6 MW) is coming off a split against Air Force and Boise State. UW won in straight-sets against the Falcons before falling to the Broncos at home. In Colorado Springs, freshman Halie McArdle had a career-high nine kills and eight digs against Air Force as senior Courtney Chacon recorded her team-leading tenth double-double for the Cowgirls. Chacon had a team-high 26 assists in addition to 10 digs during the match. Against the Broncos, sophomore middle blocker Reed Copeland led the way for Wyoming with nine kills and four blocks. Redshirt freshman Bayly Poor added seven kills for the Brown and Gold.

Earlier this season, Wyoming earned a four-set win over CSU (20-8, 14-3 MW) at home inside the UniWyo Sports Complex. UW had held the Rams to a .178 hitting percentage during that match. It was the first win for UW over the Border War rival since Nov. 13, 1997. Freshman Madi Fields was honored as the Mountain West’s Defensive Player of the Week the following Monday after helping Wyoming claim the win with a team-high 13 digs against Colorado State.

Since CSU fell in Laramie, the Rams have won six of the last seven matches. The loss came at MW Champion Boise State in five sets on Nov. 16. Most recently, Colorado State swept Air Force on Nov. 19. Sanja Cizmic leads the Rams and is 12th in the MW with 300 kills (2.94 kps), while Jasmine Hanna is close behind with 294 (2.91 kps). Katie Hillyer leds the MW with 150 total blocks (1.56 bps). Katie Oleksak is second in the conference with 1,145 assists (11.23 aps), as Cassidy Denny is third in digs (3.94 dps). As a team, Colorado State is the outright leader in blocks (3.34 bps) and hitting percentage (.288). CSU is also second in opponent hitting percentage (.173) and third in assists (12.63 aps).

Notes:

-The win over Air Force was Chad Callihan’s 47th MW victory for most all-time in Wyoming volleyball history. He moved past Hall of Fame coach Mike English (46). 

-Courtney Chacon is in sixth place in Cowgirl history with 3,292 career assists. She is just behind Kayla Slofkiss for 10th  with 934 career digs and is also sixth all-time with 436 sets played. Chacon leads all active MW players with 37 career double-doubles. She needs one more double-double to be tied tenth all-time in MW history.

-Laura Beach is fifth all-time with 429 total blocks. Reese Plante (2010-13) is fourth all-time with 440 career blocks. Furthermore, Beach is now 32 kills away from 1,000 for her career. She continues to hold the top spot in career hitting percentage (.373) and her .404 percentage this year is third-best in a single season.

-Kayla Slofkiss is tied ninth with 938 career digs and 11th with 1,018 kills while wearing the Brown and Gold. She is also eighth in sets played with 422. Slofkiss joined Jodi Purdy (2009-12), Ronda Munger (1984-87) and Michele Rauter (2000-03) as the only players with 1,000 kills and 900 digs during their career.

-Reed Copeland is second in the MW in blocks averaging 1.39 per set. That average is 23rd in the NCAA. She has led Wyoming in blocks during 12 different matches. Copeland also needs only 12 blocks to become tied for tenth all-time at UW.

-Madi Fields is eighth in the conference in digs. She currently averages 3.12 digs per set for Wyoming.

-Wyoming leads the MW in opponent hitting percentage (.158) and is second in blocks. UW is 14th in the NCAA in opponent hitting percentage and 33rd in blocks.

-The senior class of Laura Beach, Courtney Chacon and Kayla Slofkiss have won 85 matches as Cowgirls. The 85 victories are third all-time as a class. Bridget Shanahan was the lone four-year senior a year ago and helped Wyoming win 88 matches from 2012-15, while the 1983-86 teams won 86 matches for UW. 

-Aided by a tough nonconference schedule and an 11-2 record at home, the Cowgirl volleyball team sits at No. 72 in the NCAA’s seventh RPI Rankings. Boise State (29th), UNLV (32nd) and Colorado State (48th) are ahead of UW in the rankings.