LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 6, 2017) -- The University of Wyoming volleyball team travels to Malibu, Calif., for the Pepperdine Asics Classic this weekend. The Cowgirls start the competition against host Pepperdine on Friday at 1 p.m. MT, followed by Missouri State that night and No. 8 Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Last Time Out
Wyoming is coming off a 2-1 weekend hosting the UniWyo Invite on Sept. 1-2. The Brown and Gold quickly earned a straight-set sweep over Eastern Michigan and a four-set win over Jacksonville before dropping a hard fought five-set match to then-No. 21 Purdue. Junior's
Emily Lewis and
Laurel Place were named to the All-Tournament team after leading the Cowgirls over the weekend.
The Opponents
The Waves are 4-2 on the season. Two of the four wins have come in straight sets, with those being against Fresno State and most recently Weber State. Hannah Frohling leads the offense with 3.74 kills per set, with Heidi Dyer just behind at 2.95 kills per set. Blossom Sato averages 11.35 assists per set for Pepperdine with Jasmine Gross leading the team with 1.17 blocks per set.
The Missouri State Bears are also 4-2 on the season and received ten votes in the current AVCA Coaches Poll. The Bears would be ranked 31st if the top-25 poll would be carried out with the receiving votes. Missouri State upset then-No.20 Ohio State at the D.C. Koehl Classic in Columbus last weekend, thanks in part to Lynsey Wright's 15 kills. Wright was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week this week. Lily Johnson is leading the team with a 3.92 kills per set average, with Emily Betters averaging 2.19 digs per set.
Washington came into the 2017 season as the AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll third-ranked team before a four-set loss to No. 9 Creighton on August 26. The Huskies, who are one of six teams ranked from the Pac-12, have since been ranked eighth and hold a 5-1 overall record. UW swept Seattle, Santa Clara and Cal Poly at the Seattle Invite last weekend where Carly DeHoog was named the Most Outstanding Player. Lauren Sanders and Courtney Schwan joined DeHoog earning All-Tournament honors. Schwan was the 2016 Pac-12 Player of the Year and a First Team All-American after leading the Huskies to a Pac-12 title with a team-high 3.71 kills per set a year ago. Three different Huskies average 3.00 kills per set or more. Leading the way is Kara Bajema with 3.20 kills per set. Bailey Tanner is leading UW with 11.17 assists per set.
Wyoming-Pepperdine Series
Wyoming and Pepperdine will meet for the sixth time in series history on Friday. The Waves hold a series advantage of 4-1. The Cowgirls won the last meeting, which was at the UniWyo Invite in Laramie in 2015, in straight set fashion.
Emily Lewis posted four kills in the last meeting between the two schools, as
Reed Copeland had three. Additionally,
Cori Aafedt also dished out 15 assists for Wyoming.
Wyoming-Missouri State Series
Friday's matchup between the Cowgirls and the Bears will be first-ever meeting for the schools.
Wyoming-Washington Series
Wyoming and Washington meet for the eighth time in program history on Saturday. Wyoming won the first five contests before the Huskies took both meetings in 1994. Saturday's match will be the first meeting for both schools since the first round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament in Seattle, Wash. The Huskies have since made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 15 straight.
Live Coverage
All of Wyoming's matches this weekend will be streamed live on TheW.TV and will only have play-by-play announcing for its match against Pepperdine on Friday afternoon. Live stats will be available for all of this weekend's matches and can be found using the links above.
