LARAMIE, Wyo. (Feb. 26, 2021) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team fell in straight sets to Border Rival Colorado State Friday night in Laramie, losing 30-28, 25-20 and 25-12. Losing the wild first set proved costly as the Rams controlled the match in the final two sets.
Wyoming scored the first five points of the first set and six-of-seven to open the match. CSU eventually came back to make it 10-9. From that point in the set, Wyoming strung the lead back out to a 16-12 advantage, forcing a Rams timeout. UW ran its lead up to as many as five points multiple times after the timeout. CSU would not go away however, cutting the Cowgirl lead down to 19-18, forcing Wyoming to take a timeout of its own.
The Rams would eventually grab the lead, 23-21, thanks to a four-point run to force UW's final timeout of the set. The stoppage proved to be good for the Cowgirls as back-to-back points evened things up at 23-23, forcing CSU's second timeout. The marathon set continued with the two squads trading points back-and-forth before back-to-back points from the Rams finally ended the set.
In the second set, it was Colorado State's turn to jump out to an early lead, as CSU claimed an early 9-5 lead. CSU lengthened its lead after the good start and forced a Cowgirl timeout, with UW trailing 13-9. After the timeout, the Cowgirls battled back to tie the set at 13-13, which brought a CSU timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Rams took control of the set with a 19-15 lead and forced another UW timeout. CSU controlled much of the rest of the set and took a two sets to none lead in the match.
The third saw the Rams run out to another early lead at 12-6 and force Wyoming to take a timeout at 13-7. CSU wouldn't let up however, running its lead out to as many as 10 points and forced UW's last timeout of the set at 19-9. From there on out, the Rams extended their lead even more and cruised to the set win and the sweep.
The serve game for Wyoming was sluggish as the Cowgirls committed 13 service errors and had six return errors in the loss. UW was also out-hit in the match as the Rams hit .344, including a blistering .765 in the third set while the Cowgirls hit .226 for the match.
Jackie McBride had a solid game for the Cowgirls in the loss as she notched a team-best 12 kills while hitting .647. McBride also led the way with a match-high five total blocks. KC McMahon and Hailey Zuroske added eight and seven kills, respectively on the night.
In the back row, Erika Jones along with Abby Olsen led Wyoming with seven digs. Olsen also tallied 31 assists and a pair of block assists in the loss. Jones meanwhile had the Cowgirls' lone service ace.
The two teams will get back at it Saturday night for match two of the series between the two rivals. First serve is set for 6 p.m., at the UniWyo.
-WYO-
