LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 26, 2023) – On One Wyoming Night in Laramie, the Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team played perhaps their best match of the season Thursday as they swept over Boise State inside the UniWyo Sports Complex. UW essentially led wire-to-wire in the contest on the way to a 25-14, 25-15 and 25-17 victory.
The Cowgirls (16-6, 5-6 MW) hit .373 on the night, including opening the first two sets with a .431 team hitting percentage. Defensively, Wyoming held the Broncos (11-10, 7-4 MW) to just an .043 attack percentage, including a mark of just .016 in the match's first two sets. Wyoming had 15 more kills (42-27) than the Broncos and had an 11-4 advantage in team blocks on the night. The Cowgirls also had three more service aces (7-4) than Boise did.
Thursday featured complete domination from the Cowgirls as the matchup featured just four ties and three lead changes, none of which came in the first set as UW stormed out to an early lead in the match. In the second, the Broncos led 6-5, but an 11-2 run from the Cowgirls pushed them in front 16-8, while a 14-3 extended run made the margin ten points, 19-9. In the third, BSU took a 1-0 and 2-1 lead but didn't lead again the rest of the set after the Cowgirls claimed the lead for good at 3-2. UW led by as many as 11, 22-11 in the final set.
Individually, the Cowgirls featured a balanced offensive attack as Rylee Schulz led the way with 11 kills while hitting an efficient .364. Tierney Barlow and Paige Lauterwasser added eight kills each and hit .500 and .467, respectively. Sarah Holcomb chipped in with six kills while Corin Carruth and Kasia Partyka had five and four, respectively on the night.
Defensively, Wyoming was led in the back row by Sierra Grizzle's 15 digs while Skylar Erickson added seven. At the net, Barlow led the wall with six block assists while Partyka had five. Sarah Holcomb added two solo blocks and an assisted block in the win.
Partyka ended the night with a match-high 33 assists and had a season-best two service aces. Barlow led all players with a trio of aces.
Wyoming now looks to make it a 2-0 week as they will be home once again Saturday. Conference-leading Utah State comes to Laramie for a 1 p.m., contest. The Aggies defeated UW in five sets earlier this season in the Mountain West opener in Logan.
-WYO-
