VERMILLION, S.D. (Sept. 14, 2019) – They Wyoming Cowgirls volleyball team lost its final match of the South Dakota Classic Saturday morning, as the Cowgirls came up short in a tough five-set battle to UC Davis, losing 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22 and 10-15.

After a comeback fell short in set one, Wyoming (4-5) was able to even the match in the second set as they scored two of the final three points of the set to take set two. Set three was a back-and-forth affair, but the Aggies (5-4) took control with five consecutive points to push their lead from 16-15 to 21-15 and were able to hang on to close the set.

The Cowgirls led most of the fourth set, looking to even things up but UCD was able to tie things at 19-19 late. However, back-to-back points from the Pokes put the lead at 21-19 and the Cowgirls were able to send the match into a deciding fifth set. Set five was all UC Davis as they Aggies never trailed.

Hailey Zuroske led the Pokes offensively with 12 kills in the loss. Zuroske hit .324 and also added four digs. Tara Traphagan added 11 kills and hit a team-high .435. Jackie McBride also was in double figures with 10 kills, hit .304 and added a match-high seven blocking assists. McBride was named to the all-classic team as well for her efforts this weekend.

Wyoming used a pair of setters in the match and was led by Mackenzie Coates' 28 assists while Kyra Slavik had 20 assists. In the back row defensively, Madi Fields had another 20-plus dig day as she notched a team-high 21. Erika Jones had 12 digs.

As a team, the Aggies hit .307 on the day while Wyoming hit .251. Both teams were strong at the net with 12 total blocks. The Cowgirls were also better in the serving game, tallying five service aces with four errors, while UCD had four aces to go along with nine errors.

The Cowgirls close non-conference play next weekend as they travel for a pair of matches at the Bluejay Invitational hosted by Creighton.

-WYO-