LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 30, 2019) – The Wyoming volleyball team continues Mountain West play this week with a pair of matches. The Cowgirls host 16th-ranked Colorado State Tuesday night at 6:30 and close the week at Air Force in a 6:30 p.m., contest in Colorado Springs.
The Pokes (7-6, 2-0 MW) opened league play with a pair of comeback, five-set victories last week as they defeated UNLV in the UniWyo Sports Complex and at New Mexico. Wyoming has now opened conference play 2-0 for the second consecutive season and fourth time in the last five seasons.
UW had student-athletes record double-doubles in both contests last week as Mackenzie Coates tallied 48 assists and 10 digs in the win over UNLV. Jackie McBride and Kyra Slavik both achieved the feat at UNM. McBride tied a career-high with 14 kills and had 11 total blocks against the Lobos while Slavik had 48 assists and 15 digs, both career-bests.
The No. 16 Rams have been a force to be reckoned with in 2019 as they lead the Mountain West in most statistical categories. CSU is currently on an 11-match winning streak. The Rams are led by Breana Runnels' 156 kills, a mark that ranks fifth in the league. Meanwhile, Paulina Hougaard-Jensen has 109 and Kirstie Hillyer is at 104 and is second in the MW with a .382 hitting percentage. Katie Oleksak spearheads the offense, averaging 10.24 assists per set. The Rams are hitting a MW best .274 and holding opponents to just a .091 clip.
Air Force is led offensively by Bailey Keith's 143 kills and 3.11 per set. Andi Ahlers leads the Falcons averaging 8.84 assists per set. In the back row, Alex King's 4.24 digs per set ranks third in the league. AFA opened conference play with a four-set victory over Utah State before falling to Boise State 3-1 Saturday.
Wyoming is looking for its third win in the last four meetings against Colorado State. The Cowgirls have defeated the Rams just three times since 1998. Against Air Force, UW has won 10 consecutive matchups and is 21-4 all-time at AFA.
Libero Madi Fields continues to inch closer to the all-time career digs record at Wyoming. Fields is now 256 digs from passing Becky Stewart for the most in program history. With 16 regular season matches left to play, Fields would need to average 15.9 digs per match to reach that mark. So far this season, Fields has averaged 17.1 digs per contest.
Both matches this week can be seen live on the Mountain West Digital Network and Stadium. Fans can also follow along via live stats. Those links can be found at gowyo.com/coverage.
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