BOULDER, Colo. (August 31, 2019) – Despite a double-double from junior setter Mackenzie Coates and a pair of Cowgirls in double-figure kills, Wyoming dropped a five-set match against UC Santa Barbara in the second game of the Buffs Invite on Saturday.
 
Coates had a team-high 24 assists to go along with 14 digs for her second-career double, and it's her first while wearing the Brown and Gold. Senior libero Madi Fields led the defensive effort with 26 digs, while junior middle blocker Faith Waitsman had four total blocks.
 
Junior middle blocker Jackie McBride had a team-high 13 kills, while senior outside hitter Tara Traphagan added 12 kills to join McBride in double-digits. Senior outside hitter Halie McArdle had six kills, 10 digs and a pair of block assists.
 
As a team, Wyoming hit .120 with 50 kills and 28 errors on 184 attempts. The Cowgirls had 81 digs and 15 total blocks. The Gauchos hit .130 with 64 kills and 38 errors on 200 attempts. Santa Barbara ended the match with 92 digs and 23 total blocks.
 
The Cowgirls opened the first set on a 3-0 run, but the Gauchos evened the score at 5-5. The scored would stay close until a small run put UCSB up 18-14, and Wyoming called timeout. Santa Barbara would keep that four-point lead all the way to a 25-21 set win.
 
In the second set, the teams battled point-by-point to a 7-7 tie, before a 5-0 run by Wyoming forced a UCSB timeout. The Gauchos pushed the score back to a one-point deficit at 15-14, but the Cowgirls answered with a 3-0 run, and UCSB called timeout trailing 18-14. Wyoming increased its lead to 22-16 on a McMahon kill, but after Santa Barbara scored three straight to make it 23-20, the Cowgirls called timeout. After the break, McArdle and Traphagan posted back-to-back kills to give Wyoming the set, 25-20.
 
Santa Barbara started the third set with a 9-5 lead, but the Cowgirls used an 8-0 run kickstarted by a McBride kill to go up 13-9. The Gauchos brought it back to one point at 14-13, but the Cowgirls ripped off a 5-0 run capped by a McBride and Traphagan block to take a 19-13 lead. With Wyoming holding a 22-15 lead, UCSB went on a 6-0 run to make it 22-21. The teams then traded points to a 26-26 tie before a pair of UCSB attack errors gave Wyoming the set, 28-26.
 
In the fourth set, the Gauchos jumped out to a 6-2 lead before the Cowgirls cut the deficit to just one point at 6-7. However, UCSB later used a 7-3 run to make it 19-12 and force a Wyoming timeout. The teams traded points until Santa Barbara took the fourth set by a final score of 25-16.
 
Santa Barbara went up 4-1 early in the fifth set, but the Cowgirls evened the score at 7-7 after a Waitsman kill. A Gaucho ace gave UCSB a 12-9 lead, and the Cowgirls called timeout. However, UCSB took the set, 15-11, to earn the victory, three sets to two.
 
The Cowgirls are back in action on Monday, Sep. 6, against LIU in the UniWyo Sports Complex at 6:30 p.m.
 
-WYO-