LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 16, 2023) – The Wyoming Cowgirls capped a perfect non-conference start to the season Saturday afternoon in Laramie, closing the UniWyo Invitational with a four-set victory over Idaho State. The win makes UW 11-0 on the season and makes it the first time in program history that Wyoming has gone undefeated in non-conference play. Set scores went 25-20, 25-21, 25-27 and 25-21.
The Bengals (2-9) put up a strong fight Saturday, especially in the second and third sets as those two combined for 25 ties and five lead changes. Wyoming was strong in the later stages of sets Saturday, outside of the third. In the first, UW pushed ended on an 8-5 run to distance itself to take an early match lead.
In the second, the Cowgirls turned a 19-19 tie, into a 6-2 run to close things out in the second. After ISU prevailed with a strong push late in the third, UW responded late in the fourth set to secure the match. In the fourth, Wyoming got three consecutive points to turn a 17-16 lead into 20-17. Then, after Idaho State got things back to 23-21, the Brown & Gold ended things with back-to-back points in the fourth.
The Cowgirls were solid once again offensively, hitting .340 for the afternoon. Idaho State hit .223 in the match. Wyoming held a big advantage at the net, tallying 12 team blocks to ISU's six. Both teams struggled at the service line, as UW had just one ace, from Skylar Erickson, and committed 10 errors. The Bengals, meanwhile, had two aces and seven service errors.
Rylee Schulz and Tierney Barlow had big matches offensively to lead the Cowgirls. Schulz tallied a match-high 19 kills and hit .441 while Barlow notched 18 and hit .419. Barlow also led the Cowgirl defense with seven total blocks in the win (three solo, four assisted). Corin Carruth also finished with double figure kills as she had 12 and hit .306.
Kasia Partyka recorded another double-double on the season, as she had 55 assists (13.8 per set) and 13 digs. Meanwhile, Erickson led the way for Wyoming with 14 digs from her libero spot. Sierra Grizzle chipped in with nine on the day.
Now, after a successful non-conference campaign, the real season begins for the Cowgirls as they begin Mountain West play next week on the road. UW's league-opener is Thursday against the defending Mountain West Tournament champion, Utah State in Logan.
-WYO-
