LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 26, 2019) – The Wyoming volleyball team continued its winning ways Saturday night as the Cowgirls swept San Jose State, 29-27, 25-15 and 25-19 to run their winning streak to seven matches in a row.
The effort Saturday wasn't as dominate for the Cowgirls (14-7, 9-1 MW) as it was earlier in the week against Nevada as SJSU (7-14, 2-8 MW) led for much of the first set and had a pair of set points at 24-23 and 26-25. UW also had to rally in the third to earn the sweep. The Cowgirls went on a 7-0 run, trailing 10-8 in the final set to help set up the push to the sweep.
"I give the kids some credit for fighting tonight," said head coach Chad Callihan.
"It wasn't our cleanest match, we had a lot of unforced errors. San Jose State has the tendency to do that to you, they play a little bit of a frenetic style and they keep a lot of balls alive that you're used to seeing go down. You really need to keep your composure."
KC McMahon led the Cowgirls with 13 kills on the night while Halie McArdle and Tara Traphagan each added 11. The trio hit the ball well in the sweep as well as Traphagan hit a match-best .526 while McArdle hit .455 and McMahon swung at a .391 clip. On the night, Wyoming hit .354 in the match while the Spartans hit .229.
Mackenzie Coates had a stellar much from her setter position, tallying 42 assists (14 per set). Coates was the only Cowgirl to record an assist in the win.
Defensively, SJSU out-blocked the Cowgirls 8-6 but UW got the upper hand in digs, 40 to 37. Madi Fields continued her strong week with a team-high 12 digs while McArdle and Erika Jones each chipped in with eight. Fields also led the Cowgirls with two service aces. The Spartans had twice as many service errors on the night as did the Cowgirls (6-3) and also had one fewer ace (4-3).
"I think there's nothing we're seeing in conference play that we didn't see in the preseason. We played some really good teams in the non-conference and battled well with them. It certainly doesn't hurt that our kids have been in a lot of tight situations this year and have played fairly well in those moments, keeping our composure and executing when we have to."
Next up, is a date with 13th-ranked and undefeated in MW play Colorado State, who rallied to beat Wyoming in five sets earlier this season. The Cowgirls and Rams will face off Tuesday at 7 p.m., down in Fort Collins.
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