LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 15, 2022) – On a night where KC McMahon became the 13th member of the 1,000-Kill Club in program history, the Wyoming Cowgirls picked up their second sweep of the day Thursday to open UniWyo Invite play, defeating Morehead State, 25-16, 25-16 and 25-21. The Cowgirls opened the day with a 25-18, 27-25 and 26-24 sweep of Nicholls State.
McMahon, who became the second Cowgirl in as many years (Jackie McBride, 2021) to reach the exclusive club, hit 1,000 exactly with her 21 kills on the day. McMahon was the only Cowgirl with double-digit kills in the win against Nicholls as she tallied 11. She then followed that up with a 10-kill performance against Morehead. McMahon registered six of her kills in the third and final set.
The Cowgirls (4-7) were able to open the day with an easy set one victory against the Colonels before showing great resolve in the second and third sets, winning both in extra points. UW rallied from set point in the second set to score three-straight to take a two sets to none lead. The third set, meanwhile, featured 10 ties and three lead changes before the Cowgirls put away the match.
Wyoming hit a season-high .314 in the win over Nicholls State and in addition to McMahon's 11 kills, got eight from Tierney Barlow, along with a .389 hitting percentage and seven from Kayla Mazzocca with a .429 hitting clip. Mazzocca also led the way with seven total blocks in the win. As a team, UW had a 9-5 edge in team blocks in the match.
Against NSU, Kasia Partyka paced the match with 36 assists and in the back row, Hailey Zuroske led the way with 15 digs while Skylar Erickson added nine. Erickson, along with Teresa Garza, led the team with a pair of service aces each. Both teams had five aces in the contest, with Wyoming committing four fewer serving errors.
In the nightcap, the Cowgirls were led by Sarah Holcomb's career-high 12 kills. Holcomb also added five block assists in the sweep and hit .364. Mazzocca once again led the Cowgirl defense with six blocks on the night and added five kills. Zuroske tallied a match-high 16 digs on the night and along with Erickson, had UW's lone service aces against the Eagles. Partyka notched 40 assists in the win.
Wyoming, who hit .260 in the win while holding MSU to just a .041 hitting percentage, controlled much of the match. The Cowgirls led by as many as 10 points, 21-11, in the first set and only trailed twice, at 1-0 and 2-1. In the second it was the same story as Morehead led at 1-0 and 2-1 before Wyoming jumped out to a 18-10 lead later in the frame and cruised to a second set win. The third set was much more competitive, despite the Cowgirls leading for all but one point in the set.
UW led by as many as six, 15-9, in the third with the Eagles trimming the lead down to just one at 21-20. However, the Cowgirls responded with three consecutive kills from there on, including McMahon's 1,000th before the match was ended on a Morehead attack error.
The Cowgirls now look to close a perfect tournament Friday as they host Idaho at 3 p.m., inside the UniWyo Sports Complex to close out the tourney.
-WYO-
