PORTLAND, Ore. (Aug. 31, 2018) – The Wyoming volleyball team split its first two matches of the North Portland Marriott Invitational on Friday, opening with a 3-0 sweep of LIU Brooklyn before dropping a 3-2, back-and-forth match to host Portland on Friday night.
In the first match of the day, the Pokes dispatched of LIU Brooklyn in a 3-0 sweep. Wyoming led a balanced offensive attack against the Blackbirds with seven Cowgirls tallying multiple kills, and five scoring more than five. The team finished with a .259 hitting percentage, while holding LIU Brooklyn to a .078 clip. Wyoming recorded a new season high for a three-set match in digs with 42, besting their previous three-set total of 33 against Oral Roberts.
The Brown and Gold offense was led by senior
Reed Copeland, who notched nine kills with a .474 hitting percentage. Two Pokes were in double-figure assists with
Cori Aafedt posting 22 and
Marissa Harmon adding 10. Copeland was dominant on the defensive end as well, contributing six of the team's nine total blocks to the Wyoming defensive front. Junior libero
Madi Fields turned in what would be a short-lived new season high for digs with 20.
The Cowgirls took the first set, 25-22, from the Blackbirds in a late comeback to seize early control of the match. Trailing, 20-16, Wyoming used an 8-0 run to take a 24-20 lead and eventually close out the opening frame. Copeland scored five of her nine total kills in the first, followed by
Tara Traphagan,
KC McMahon and
Marissa Harmon with two apiece. Wyoming blocked four attacks as a team in the set—led by Copeland, Traphagan and
Jackie McBride with two each—and Fields was able to keep the ball alive for the Pokes with 10 digs.
Wyoming was able to create a bit more separation in the second set, coming up with the 25-17 set victory. The Cowgirls caught a rhythm on offense, hitting at a .394 percentage while also holding the Blackbirds to a .081 mark.
Halie McArdle tallied four kills on a .571 hitting percentage, followed by McBride with three (.600).
McArdle and Traphagan combined for seven of the Cowgirls' 13 kills in the third-and-final set, as Wyoming closed out the match with a 25-20 win in the frame.
In the nightcap, the Cowgirls couldn't overcome a slow start and came up just short of a comeback in five sets to the Pilots. Offensively, the Cowgirls hit .293 for the match, compared to the Pilots' .288 percentage. Of the 12 Wyoming players to see action in the match, 10 recorded at least one kill with McMahon adding 16 on a .400 hitting percentage and Traphagan following closely behind with 15. Aafedt added 29 assists—the most in a match by a Cowgirl this season—as Harmon added 22 with four kills.
Traphagan tallied six blocks on the night to lead the Pokes. Copeland recorded five total blocks on the night to go along with a season-high 13 kills. Fields reset her season high for the second time of the day with 25 digs, falling just five short of her career high.
After Portland came out hot with a 25-12 win in the first set, Wyoming found a steady footing in the second and was able to gain some of their rhythm back. The Brown and Gold led for much of the second set and had a couple of set points to take the frame, but the Pilots rallied late for the 27-25 win to go up, 2-0.
The two teams continued to battle through the third set, as the Pokes and Pilots traded blows with 21 ties and nine lead changes in the period. Again going to extra points to decide the set, it was the Cowgirls who came up clutch to fight off three match points and come out with the 30-28 win.
The fourth set was all Cowgirls as the Pokes jumped out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back, finishing off the 25-17 set victory to force a fifth. Six different Cowgirls recorded a kill in the dominant forth, led by Traphagan with five on 10 attacks while Aafedt dished out eight assists.
The fifth set played out a lot like the second and third, with the two teams going back and forth for much of the frame; however, as the Cowgirls held a 10-9 lead midway through, the Pilots ran off a 6-1 run to finish off the match. Both teams showcased their offensive chops in the fifth, hitting well over .500 for the set. McMahon was impressive in the decisive set, scoring four of the Cowgirls' 10 kills.
The Cowgirls will look to get back on track tomorrow at 11 a.m. MT, as they close out the North Portland Marriott Invitational with Montana State.
