LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 24, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirls were swept Saturday afternoon in their conference home-opener, losing to UNLV 25-21, 25-18 and 25-21.
Wyoming (4-10, 0-2) got out to a strong start to begin the match, leading most of the first set, however, nine service errors from the Cowgirls doomed them and the Lady Rebels (10-3, 1-1 MW) were able to take advantage and escape with a first set victory. UNLV went on to control most of the second and third sets in the match. The Cowgirls ended up committing 14 service errors in the loss while UNLV had just three.
Teresa Garza led the Cowgirl offense with eight kills on the day while Tiereney Barlow and Sarah Holcomb added seven and six, respectively. Barlow continued to hit the ball while in the contest, ending the match with a .667 hitting percentage. Kasia Partyka led UW with 30 assists as it hit .206 as a team. The Lady Rebels, meanwhile, hit .282 for the match.
Defensively, six Cowgirls each had one block in the loss while in the back row, Garza and Kendal Rivera led the way with six digs apiece. Partyka and Hailey Zuroske added five digs of their own. Overall, UNLV had 35 digs to the UW's 26 and had a slight 5-4 edge in team blocks.
The Cowgirls now go in search of their first conference win next week on the road. Wyoming kicks off a pair of road contests at New Mexico September 29 at 6:30 p.m., MT.
-WYO-
