SAN JOSE, Calif. (Nov. 23, 2019) – The Wyoming volleyball team wrapped up its 2019 regular season with its 12th sweep of the season Saturday afternoon as the Cowgirls prevailed at San Jose State, 27-25, 25-16 and 26-24. It was UW's ninth sweep in Mountain West play this season.
The Cowgirls finished the season 21-8 overall and extended their program-record for conference wins, finishing 16-2 in MW play in 2019. Wyoming now waits to see if it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the Cowgirls are assured postseason play, as they secured the NIVC's auto bid with the win Saturday by finishing in second in the league.
Halie McArdle led the cowgirls with 12 kills and a .333 hitting percentage in the win while KC McMahon had 11 kills to also finish in double figures. Tara Traphagan and Jackie McBride added nine and eight, respectively in the sweep. McBride also led UW with five total blocks (3 solo, 2 assisted).
As a team, the Cowgirls had an 8-5 advantage in total blocks and also had one more service ace (4) then the Spartans (10-19, 5-13 MW). Both teams had four service errors. Wyoming hit .232 in the sweep while holding SJSU to a .158 clip.
Madi Fields was one of four Cowgirls to record an ace in the match and led the way with a match-high 19 digs. Erika Jones added seven digs while Kyra Slavik had a solid match with 37 assists and eight digs while recording a pair of both kills and blocks.
It was not easy Saturday, despite the sweep. UW trailed by as many as three on multiple occasions in the opening set but went on a 7-1 run to take a 16-13 lead in the first. But, the Spartans went on a run of their own and forced set-point at 24-23. After back-to-back attack errors by San Jose, McBride sealed the win with a kill.
After trailing early in the second, the Cowgirls eventually grabbed the lead at 14-13 and then preceded to close the set on an impressive 11 to 3 scoring run to be on the verge of a sweep. The third set went much like the first, with the Cowgirls having to fend off set point, but scored three consecutive points to end the set and the match.
-WYO-
