FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Oct. 24, 2017) -- The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team started off hot, but fell in four sets (25-22, 16-25, 21-25, 16-25) at Colorado State on Tuesday night. Wyoming rallied a number of times throughout the match but ultimately moved to 12-11 overall and 7-4 in Mountain West action.
 
Sophomore Halie McArdle posted her fourth double-double of the season behind a team-high 15 kills in addition to 12 digs. Sophomore Madi Fields topped the Brown and Gold with 17 digs against the Rams, as fellow sophomore Tara Traphagan dropped 12 kills on Tuesday night. Redshirt Freshman Jackie McBride added nine kills while junior Emily Lewis posted eight for UW.
 
Freshman Marissa Harmon once again ran the offense for Wyoming. She recorded 46 assists during the match, and also added five digs, and three kills. Junior Reed Copeland had five kills against the Border War rival, and a team-best four blocks. Senior Lily Austin chipped in seven digs for the Brown and Gold, as redshirt sophomore Cori Aafedt added six against the Rams.
 
Copeland now has 436 career blocks as a member of the Brown and Gold. She needs two to tie former teammate Laura Beach for fifth all-time at Wyoming. Austin jumped to a tie with Melody Friehauf for eighth all-time in sets played at 422. She also needs 26 digs to tie Courtney Chacon for tenth in Cowgirl history. Additionally, five more service aces from Austin would tie her with Rachel Lau for tenth all-time with 98 for her career.
 
Set One
Wyoming opened in thrilling fashion with a 25-22 set win. UW would take the first point but CSU jumped out to a 4-1 lead and remained in control for a majority of the opening frame. Wyoming found itself down by three, 12-15 at the media timeout and also by five, 13-18 before a called timeout and a Ram rally. The Cowgirls would then go on to tie the set at 22 before taking the victory.
 
Set Two
The second set was pretty back and forth to begin with. CSU held a 15-11 advantage at the media timeout. Not only did CSU not look back but it would take ten of the next 15 points to even the set score at one heading into intermission.  
 
Set Three
CSU used a 5-1 spark to begin the third match. Wyoming didn't back down and tied it at six after a McArdle kill. Wyoming would use a 3-0 run to take an 11-10 lead after a CSU attacking error. The teams would trade points until the Cowgirls used another 3-0 rally to take a 15-13 lead. The Rams would ignite to a 21-18 lead only to see the Brown and Gold answer with three straight. CSU rallied and took the set, 25-21.
 
Set Four
The fourth set started in favor of the Rams who used two separate four-point runs. Wyoming used its second timeout with CSU up, 11-6 and hitting .385 to begin the final frame. The CSU offense kept its pace throughout and additionally kept the pressure on UW. CSU closed out the set, 25-16 and the 3-1 match behind a service ace and a Ram kill.
 
Up Next
Wyoming is back in action inside the UniWyo Sports Complex on Friday evening against Air Force. The match is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. MT.