BOISE, Idaho (Oct. 22, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team continued its stellar play on the road during league play this season as Wyoming rallied for a five-set victory at Boise State Saturday afternoon. It marks just the fourth time the Cowgirls have won in Boise in program history and improves their road mark to 5-1 during Mountain West play this season. The match was also the Broncos' first loss at home in 2022. Set scores went 16-25, 25-19, 22-25, 26-24 and 15-12.
The two teams split the opening two sets in the match, with Boise State (14-7, 6-4 MW) controlling the first while the Cowgirls (9-13, 5-5 MW) led much of the way in the second to tie the match at a set each. The third was tightly contested, but ultimately the Broncos, who led most of the frame, ended the set on a 3-0 run to go up two sets to one. In the fourth, UW hung on to survive late to force a fifth set. After earning set point at 24-22, back-to-back points from BSU forced extra play in the set, which was won thanks to back-to-back Cowgirl kills.
In the decisive fifth set, it was Boise that got out to an early lead, going up 7-5. However, a big Cowgirl run was the difference in the match as UW went on an impressive 8-1 run to go up 13-8. From there, the Broncos would close the gap to within two points at 13-11 and 14-12 but a Teresa Garza kill closed out the victory for the Brown and Gold.
Wyoming had four student-athletes with double-digit kills in the win and was led by Naya Shimé's 19. Garza and KC McMahon added 12 kills each while Garza hit .429 and McMahon surpassed her former teammate, Jackie McBride, for ninth on the program's career kills list with 1,087. Tierney Barlow added 11 kills and also led the way with nine total blocks in the win. Wyoming had a big advantage in total blocks in the match, out-blocking the Broncos, 14-9. The Cowgirls were also better offensively in the contest, hitting .267 in the win while BSU hit .244.
Kasia Partyka was once again great in all phases in the win as she tallied 53 assists. Partyka also chipped in with four kills, added eight digs and had a career-high seven block assists in the match. Also defensively, it was Hailey Zuroske who led the Cowgirls with 24 digs. Zuroske also added a pair of service aces while McMahon led Wyoming with three at the line.
Next up for the Cowgirls will be a pair of home contests next week. Wyoming opens the week with a Thursday contest against Fresno State at 6:30 p.m. The Cowgirls close-out the home stay at noon against San Diego State Saturday.
-WYO-
