LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 24, 2019) – The Wyoming volleyball team opens Mountain West play this week as the Cowgirls host UNLV at 6:30 p.m., Thursday in the UniWyo Sports Complex before traveling to face New Mexico Saturday in a 1 p.m., contest.
The Cowgirls (5-6) are coming up a split last weekend in their final non-conference action of 2019 at the Creighton Classic. Wyoming defeated Wichita State in four sets Friday before falling to 15th-ranked Creighton in three Saturday. Jackie McBride and Tara Traphagan were named to the all-classic team.
Traphagan led the Cowgirls with 20 kills over the weekend and hit .378. McBride tallied 15 kills in the two matches while hitting a team-high .452 to go along with 1.43 blocks per set. McBride has been named to the all-tournament team each of the last three tournaments for the Pokes, including garnering MVP honors at the UniWyo Invite.
The Pokes were picked to finish second in the Preseason Mountain West poll after a third-place finish in 2018. Wyoming is 71-39 in conference play under head coach Chad Callihan. The .645 conference winning percentage under Callihan is the best mark in program history.
UNLV (4-7), who was picked third in the preseason poll, and received just one fewer point than the Pokes, is coming off a 1-1 weekend as well. The Rebels defeated Kansas and lost to Arizona State at home last week. Shelby Capllonch leads the Rebels in kills with 160 (3.27 per set) and in digs with 143 (3.27 per). UNLV deploys a two-setter system and is led by Antonette Rolda's 274 assists in 2019 while Lauryn Burt has 237. The Rebels are third in the Mountain West so far this season averaging 1.53 aces per set.
New Mexico (5-7) is led by Lauren Twitty's 143 kills. Twitty's 3.18 kills per set in 2019 ranks 10th-best in the league. Alena Moldan is one of the top liberos in the Mountain West, averaging 4.13 digs per set. Rachel Murphy leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference averaging 1.04 blocks per set. UNM is coming off a 2-1 weekend last week at the North Texas Challenge.
Thursday's match with UNLV is a Gold Rush. Fans are encouraged to wear their gold gear for the matchup with the Rebels. A free Gold Rush t-shirt will be given out to all fans while supplies last. Both matches will be streamed live over the Mountain West Digital Network. Those links can be found on the volleyball schedule page at gowyo.com.
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