LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 11, 2018) -- The Wyoming volleyball team heads back on the road this week, as it travels to Ames, Iowa, to compete at the Cyclone Classic at Hilton Coliseum. Aside from the Cowgirls (8-1), the tournament features Iowa, Syracuse and host Iowa State.
The Pokes will open up the tournament on Thursday against the Cyclones at 5:30 p.m. MT, followed by a 2:30 p.m. MT contest with Syracuse on Friday. Wyoming will wrap up the event on Saturday at 11 a.m. MT against the Hawkeyes.
"It's a big road tournament," head coach
Chad Callihan said. "We're playing on Thursday, which will be a little unique for us. We'll get used to that because we do it every conference week, but this will be the first Thursday we've played this season, so not as much time to prepare…There are three great volleyball teams, and it's going to be a good opportunity for us to hopefully pick up a few quality wins. We're definitely going to learn some things about ourselves."
Last weekend, the team picked up its second tournament title of the season at the UniWyo Invitational, knocking off Arizona State (3-1), Murray State (3-0) and Binghamton (3-0) at the UniWyo Sports Complex. The win over Arizona State marked the second Pac-12 win of the season for Wyoming, and makes the team the second in program history to complete such a feat, and the first since 1989. A number of Cowgirls contributed to the winning efforts on the weekend, with
Halie McArdle,
Cori Aafedt and
Reed Copeland earning all-tournament honors and McArdle being named the tournament MVP.
"It was nice to get home and it was nice to get exposed," Callihan said. "I think we got exposed to a few things last weekend (in Portland), but we had a nice week in the gym and were able to work on some of those weaknesses. I think this group is pretty mature and they get it. It's been a lot of fun to work with this team. They seem to enjoy and appreciate the process."
With a 3.11 blocks per set average this season, Wyoming ranks third in the country and tops on the MW in that category. The Cowgirls rank 12th in the nation in total blocks with a total of 99.5 after nine matches, also second in the MW. Individually, two Cowgirls are ranked in the top 10 of the MW in blocks per set and in the top 13 in total blocks.
Reed Copeland is ranked first nationally in blocks per set (1.88); she is also first nationally in total blocks (60).
Tara Traphagan ranks seventh in the conference and 79th in the country in blocks per set (1.22); she ranks 13th in the MW and 88th nationally in total blocks (39).
With a team hitting percentage of .306 heading into the weekend, the Cowgirls lead the MW and are currently ranked fourth in the country in team hitting percentage. Wyoming is also second in the MW in opponent hitting percentage at .144, which ranks 19th nationally. Wyoming has spread out its offensive attack so far this year, with five Pokes racking up 55 or more kills and four with 70 or more. The team has compiled 435 kills collectively, and its 13.59 kills per set average ranks second in the MW and 59th nationally. Junior
Tara Traphagan leads the Cowgirls in kills with 81.
Iowa State heads into the weekend with a 6-4 overall record after a 1-2 performance at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb., where they tallied a 3-1 win over Wichita State and a couple of losses to No. 14 Creighton and No. 7 Nebraska. The Cyclones are led by senior outside hitter Jess Schaben with 122 kills (.202 hit pct). Defensively, Iowa State averages 2.83 blocks per set to rank 12th in the country in that stat, led by senior Grace Lazard with 45 total and 1.25 per set. Christy Johnson-Lynch (274-134) is in her 14th year at the helm of the Cyclone program. Thursday's match against the Cyclones will be the fifth match in the series between the two teams, with Wyoming taking each of the previous four.
The Hawkeyes ride a three-match win streak into the Cyclone Classic, tallying sweeps over South Dakota State, Drake and Eastern Illinois last weekend to get to 5-3 overall for the season. Taylor Louis has paced the Iowa offense so far this season with 126 kills on a 4.36 per set average to rank 29th in the nation. Hannah Clayton leads the Hawkeye defensive front with 1.35 blocks per set to rank 41st nationally, as defensive specialist Molly Kelly anchors the team with 5.19 digs per set to rank 35th. Bond Shymansky (50-54) is in the midst of his fifth year as the head coach in Iowa City.
Syracuse enters the weekend at 2-3 following a tough weekend at the Marquette Invitational, falling to No. 3 BYU, No. 10 USC, and No. 25 Marquette. The Orange are led offensively by freshman outside hitter Polina Shemanova with 4.45 kills per set, which ranks 20th in the country. The Syracuse defense ranks No. 8 in the nation in blocks per set with 2.90, led by senior Santita Ebangwese at 1.55, ranking ninth. Head coach Leonid Yelin (59-89) is in his seventh season at Syracuse.
Fans can follow the action this weekend with live stats at iowastate.statbroadcast.com. There will also be a live stream available of Thursday's match on cyclones.com for a fee.
