LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 12, 2021) – The Wyoming volleyball team opened its home slate in style Friday night as the Cowgirls led New Mexico from start-to-finish in the match, sweeping the Lobos in three sets. Set scores were 25-12, 25-16 and 25-6.

The Cowgirls controlled every aspect of the match, out-hitting the Lobos .378 to .-075. Wyoming also had seven service aces to the Lobos' three and had a 9-2 advantage in blocks on the night.

"I think we were a little over excited in the beginning, but I think we settled in eventually," said Head Coach Chad Callihan postgame.

"First home match in over a calendar year, we'll take it."

In the first set, the Cowgirls got off to an early lead before UNM eventually tied things at 8-8, but Wyoming went on a nice 5-0 run from there to go up 13-8 and force a New Mexico timeout. After the two teams traded a couple of points, Wyoming lengthened its lead to 17-10, forcing UNM's final timeout of the set. However, the Cowgirls just turned it on from there, lengthening their lead to 24-11.

In set two, the Cowgirls kept the Lobos at arm's length, leading by two to three points for most of the opening moments of the set, but eventually battled back to tie the set at 13-13. From that point however, UW responded with a 6-1 run to force a Lobo timeout at 19-14. After the timeout, UW lengthened its lead to more, pushing the advantage to 22-15 before another UNM timeout. The second timeout didn't help the Lobos either, as the Cowgirls closed the set on a 4-1 run.

The third set brought more dominance from the Cowgirls as they raced out to a 9-0 lead to open the final set before New Mexico got on the scoreboard. UNM would try to claw its way back into the set, cutting the UW lead down to seven, 12-5, but that was as close as it would get in the set before another Cowgirl run made the score 19-6, forcing a timeout from New Mexico. After the timeout however, the Cowgirls closed things out with ease, not allowing another point to secure the sweep.

"I thought our first touch was much better tonight than last weekend. Our floor defense was much improved, we spent a lot of time on digging and who's responsible for what ball and I thought we executed that much better this evening," continued Callihan.

Jackie McBride and Hailey Zuroske led the Cowgirl attack on the night, recording 12 and 11 kills, respectively. McBride was extremely efficient, hitting a match-high .611 while also recording a match-best five total blocks in the sweep. Zuroske was effective as well, as she hit .435 in the win and, along with Abby Olsen, led UW with three service aces on the night.

Kyra Slavik led the Cowgirls with 29 assists in the win and also added seven digs, an ace and a pair of blocking assists in the sweep. Kaitlyn Gehler led the back row with 16 digs on the night while Olsen chipped in with eight.

Wyoming (3-0) will look to earn the sweep over the Lobos this season on Saturday morning as the two school face-off once again at the UniWyo, this time at 11 a.m.