LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 10, 2021) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team will host its first home matches for the first time since early December of 2019 as the Cowgirls welcome New Mexico to the UniWyo Sports Complex for a pair of matches. Match one with the Lobos is set for 6 p.m., Friday, February 12 while match two begins at 11 a.m., Feb. 13.
The Cowgirls (2-0) are coming off a weekend sweep to begin the spring 2021 season at Utah State last week, coming from behind to defeat the Aggies in the first match, 3-2 Friday, before sweeping the second match Saturday. KC McMahon led the Cowgirls in the match one win with 15 kills while Faith Waitsman tallied a career-best 13 total blocks in the win. Kyra Slavik recorded her fourth career double-double in the victory, notching 40 assists and 10 digs. In the second match, the Cowgirls trailed for just two points (in the third set) for the entire match and were led by Hailey Zuroske's eight kills while Waitsman hit .500.
Although the season is young, three Cowgirls rank in the top six in the league in blocks per set as Waitsman leads the Mountain West and ranks fourth nationally with 2.00 blocks per set. Naya Shimé is third in the conference at 1.25 per and Jackie McBride is sixth with 1.13 blocks per set. As a team, the Cowgirls rank sixth nationally at 3.25 blocks per set. McBride is fourth in the league with six service aces and had a career-high five in the Friday win over USU.
As a team, Wyoming ranks first in the conference through the first weekend with an opponent hitting percentage of .136 and its 1.88 service aces per set are fourth-best in the league.
This weekend against New Mexico will be the first of eight home matches for the Cowgirls this season, UW posted a home mark of 13-2 a season ago and went 8-1 in Mountain West matches in the UniWyo.
Due to capacity restrictions in the UniWyo Sports Complex, only a very limited number of tickets will be available for students that can be requested at www.GoWyo.com/tickets.
New Mexico (2-0) is coming off a pair of 3-1 victories to open the season last weekend at Nevada. For their efforts, the Lobos had both the Mountain West Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week. Kali Wolf was the offensive honoree in the league after averaging a league-best 4.75 kills per set to begin the year, while hitting .301. Uxue Guereca was the MW's defensive player of the week after averaging four digs per set, a mark that ranked fourth-best in the league.
UNM ranks third in the conference with a .249 hitting percentage and leads the league with 14.25 assists per set. The Lobos also lead the Mountain West with 15 kills per set and 17.5 digs per. Kara Erfurth leads the league thus far with 13.25 assists per set while Wolf's 5.25 points per are best in the conference.
Wyoming won the only meeting between the two teams last season, winning in Albuquerque in a five-set thriller. McBride led the Cowgirls with 14 kills and hit .323 while Slavik tallied a career-high 48 assists.
-WYO-
