LARAMIE, Wyo. (Nov. 14, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team closes out the 2022 regular season this week with a home-and-road split. The Cowgirls welcome Border Rival Colorado State to town Thursday for a 5:30 p.m., contest, which will also be Senior Night at the UniWyo Sports Complex. Wyoming closes the year on the road at UNLV for a 7:30 p.m., MT first serve Thursday.
The Cowgirls (10-18, 6-10 MW) dropped a pair of tough five-setters last week at home. UW jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Air Force last Thursday before falling in five. On Saturday, it was the inverse against New Mexico, as the Cowgirls rallied from two sets to none down, before dropping the fifth set to the Lobos.
A pair of freshmen led the way last week for the Brown & Gold as Rylee Schulz paced the team with 29 kills in the two matches. Tierney Barlow, meanwhile, added 22 kills and hit .400 for the week. Kasia Partyka, who averaged 10.4 assists per set against the Falcons and Lobos, is now averaging 10.22 assists per set on the season during league play, a mark that sits third in the Mountain West. The Cowgirls also got a solid performance from their libero, Hailey Zuroske, who averaged 4.5 digs per set in the two losses. Zuroske is now fifth in league play averaging 3.55 digs per set while her 3.73 overall on the season, is third-best in the league and is the ninth-most at UW in a single season.
Wyoming currently sits a match back of sixth in the Mountain West standings. The top six teams in the conference qualify for the Mountain West Tournament next week hosted by Colorado State.
Colorado State is No. 1 in the league in team hitting percentage, entering the week at a .273 clip during league play in 2022. The Rams are led by Naeemah Weathers' .429 hitting percentage, which is tops int he Mountain West. Kennedy Stanford leads the team and ranks seventh in the league in kills (3.40) and sixth in points (4.02) per set. Ciera Pritchard is second in the conference averaging 10.25 assists per set this season. Defensively, the Rams are led by Karina Leber's 0.98 blocks per set, which ranks 10th in the MW.
UNLV, who has already clinched at least a share of the regular season Mountain West title, ranks in the top-two in the league in eight different statistical categories. The Lady Rebels are led by Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos and Isabel Martin, who are both tied for second during league play averaging 3.75 kills per set each. Martin and Arretche-Ramos rank fourth and fifth, respectively in the league in points per set with 4.25 and 4.23, respectively. Jhenna Gabriel leads the conference in assists at 10.75 per set while Jordyn Freeman and Dakota Quinlan are eighth and ninth in blocks per set, respectively with 1.04 and 1.00 per.
Tuesday is Senior Night for the Cowgirls as four student-athletes, Lydeke King, KC McMahon, Ashton Reese and Hailey Zuroske will all be honored prior to the match.
-WYO-
