LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 5, 2023) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team had to rally late in the third set, but stepped up when it was needed most on their way to a sweep over San Jose State Thursday night at home. The Cowgirls, who earned their second consecutive win, won 25-18, 25-18 and 25-22.
Wyoming (13-4, 2-4 MW) really put the clamps on the Spartans (11-7, 2-3 MW) early in the match, holding SJSU to just a .049 hitting percentage in the first two sets. The Cowgirls led wire-to-wire in the first set to jump out to an early lead before closing the second set on an impressive 9-1 run to push San Jose to the brink.
In the third, San Jose led much of the way and had a four-point lead at one point and led 19-16 late. However, the Cowgirls caught fire much like they did in the second set and eventually tied things up with SJSU at 21-21. After an attack error from UW, the Cowgirls ended the match on a 4-0 run, capped by Tierney Barlow's seventh kill of the night.
UW hit .231 as a team on the night and held the Spartans to just a .086 hitting percentage. The Cowgirls also had a slight edge in the service game, recording a pair of aces and five serving errors while San Jose State had just one ace and committed seven errors. Wyoming also had seven blocks as a team to SJSU's five.
The Cowgirls had a extremely balanced attack offensively on the night. Corin Carruth led the way with nine kills while Rylee Schulz had eight and Barlow and Sarah Holcomb adding seven each. Paige Lauterwasser chipped in with six kills. Barlow and Holcomb led the way hitting .385 and .375, respectively. Kasia Partyka and Holcomb led the Brown & Gold defensively at the net with four blocks each.
Partyka led UW with 28 assists on the night and also added eight digs and a pair of kills. In the back row on defense, Sierra Grizzle recorded a match-high 10 digs while Schulz and Zoee Smith had seven apiece. Skylar Erickson and Schulz had both of Wyoming aces in the sweep.
Thursday concluded Wyoming's four-match homestand. The Cowgirls return to action with a pair of tough road tests next week. UW will travel to face New Mexico and Air Force Thursday an Saturday, respectively on the week.
-WYO-
