FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Sept. 28, 2021) – The Wyoming Cowgirls fought hard but it was not enough Tuesday night in the Border War as the Cowgirls fell in straight sets at Colorado State, 25-18, 25-17 and 25-22. Tuesday's match is the first of four consecutive on the road for Wyoming.
KC McMahon led the Cowgirls (8-7, 0-3 MW) offensively on the night as she tallied nine kills. Jackie McBride and Naya Shimé added eight kills each with McBride hitting .353 in the loss. Kayla Mazzocca added five kills and also led the Cowgirls with two blocks on the night. Mazzocca was also one of four Cowgirls to record a service ace in the match.
Colorado State (7-5, 3-0 MW) hit .298 as a team on the night, while Wyoming was held to just a .147 clip. The Rams also out-blocked Wyoming 8-3 and had a 5-4 edge in serving aces.
Hailey Zuroske led the Cowgirls defensively with nine digs, while Erika Jones added eight. Casady Berry tallied five digs in her first career action in the Brown & Gold. From the setter position, UW was paced by Payton Chamberlain's 19 assists. Abby Olsen added 10 to go along with three digs and an ace.
Both teams came out battling Tuesday night, as the opening set was a close affair until late in the set, when CSU was able to take control thanks to an 8-2 run late in the first to take the early match lead. The Rams controlled much of the second set after bouncing back from an early 2-0 UW lead and went on a 10-1 run early on in the set to turn a 4-2 deficit, into a 12-5 lead and didn't look back from there on.
In the third and final set, the two teams exchanged points early on as there were seven ties in the opening stages of the frame. CSU was able to get some breathing room and took a three-point lead after a kill by McMahon tied the set at 11-11. Later on, the Cowgirls faced a match point deficit at 24-19, but tried clawing their way back with a 3-0 run to cut the deficit down to 24-22. CSU was able to call a timeout and respond with a kill out of the break to take the match.
The Cowgirls are off now until Saturday, when they make a trip out west to face Fresno State in a 1 p.m., MT match.
-WYO-
