LARAMIE, Wyo. (Aug. 27, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirls gave 18th-ranked Creighton all it could handle Saturday night in Laramie to close the Rumble in the Rockies, ultimately falling to the Bluejays in four sets, 25-18, 9-25, 28-30 and 13-25.
The Cowgirls (0-3) came out strong Saturday, hitting .303 in the match's opening set while holding Creighton (3-0) to just an .063 clip to jump out to a one set to none lead. However, CU would respond from there, controlling the second set from start-to-finish and then wrestled away control of the match by scoring the final three points of set three to go up 2-1 in the match. In the fourth, Creighton didn't trail and closed the match on a 13-3 run to down the Cowgirls.
For the third-straight match, Corin Carruth led the Cowgirls with 14 kills and hit a team-best .231 as UW was held to a .148 team hitting percentage. Creighton, meanwhile, hit .252 for the match. Carruth also tallied her first-career double-double as she added in 10 digs and also had three block assists defensively. Naya Shimé also had a double-double as she tallied 13 kills and notched a career-best 12 digs in the loss.
Kasia Partyka once again had a double-double to begin her Cowgirl career as the native of Poland tallied 37 assists and also had 12 digs to go along with four kills and three total blocks. On the defensive side of the net, Hailey Zuroske led the way with a match-high 19 digs with Kendal Rivera adding a career-best 13. At the net, Kayla Mazzocca led the defensive effort with four total blocks.
In addition to their advantage in hitting, the Bluejays also held a slim eight to six edge in total blocks but were superior in the serve game, recording eight aces and six errors. Wyoming, meanwhile, had just two aces, from Carruth and Zuroske, and committed eight serving errors.
Wyoming will have its first road tests when it gets back to action next weekend with a trip to Grand Canyon for the GCU Classic. The Cowgirls will face Santa Clara, Idaho and host-GCU in Phoenix.
-WYO-
