LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 11, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team treks to its final road tournament of the season this weekend with a trip to Colorado for the CU Buffs Invitational September 13-15. The Cowgirls open play Friday the 13th against California at 4 p.m. Wyoming plays Saturday at 3 p.m., against UC Irvine before closing the invite Sunday at 1 p.m., against host-Colorado. All three matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The Cowgirls (5-0) are coming off a 3-0 weekend last week in the state of Ohio to continue their regular season non-conference winning streak. UW, who has now won 16-straight non-conference contests, opened last week with a sweep over UTRGV. The Cowgirls then won a pair of road contests, coming from behind to beat Akron and five sets and controlling a four-set match at Cleveland State.
Paige Lauterwasser led the Wyoming attack last weekend with 40 kills and is second on the team with 55 kills this season. Emma Winter leads a balanced Cowgirl attack on the young season with 56 kills while in the middle, Sarah Holcomb and Kayla Mazzocca have 44 and 36, respectively. The middle duo of Holcomb and Mazzocca also lead the team and the league with 1.50 blocks per set in 2024. That mark ranks in the top 20 nationally.
Kasia Partyka had a solid weekend in Ohio from her setter position and is now up to averaging 9.75 assists per set. Partyka moved into eighth place over the weekend on the all-time career assists list in program history and now has 2,678 as a Cowgirl.
In the back row, Sierra Grizzle had another stellar weekend and was named the Mountain West's Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in as many weeks to open 2024. Grizzle averaged 5.08 digs per set in the three matches and is averaging 5.30 for the season. The 5.3 digs per set ranks eighth-best in the nation currently.
As a team, the Cowgirls lead the Mountain West in blocks with 3.10 per set. UW is also holding its opponents to just a .137 hitting percentage on the year, ranking second in the league. Wyoming's 1.65 service aces per overall is also second-best in the MW.
California enters the weekend with a 4-2 record overall, including a pair of wins over Mountain West opponents (Nevada, Utah State). The Golden Bears are 2-1 in neutral-site matchups in 2024. Cal is led by Maggie Li's 96 kills and 4.36 per set. Mikayla Hayden is second on the team with 47 kills and is hitting .358 on the season. Setter Annalea Maeder is averaging 10.29 assists per set this season. Gianna Bartalo is averaging a team-best five digs a set. As a team, Cal is hitting .223 overall and is averaging 2.32 blocks per set.
UC Irvine has won 3-of-4 entering the invite and has a 3-0 win earlier this season over New Mexico. The Anteaters are holding their opponents to just a .146 hitting percentage and is averaging 2.64 blocks per set. Offensively, UC Irvine is led by Hunter Riedl's 85 kills (3.40 per set) while Katie Smith has 69 kills. Smith also leads the team averaging 0.56 aces per set (14). Colorado is 4-2 overall and 2-1 at home in 2024.
The Buffaloes will be hosting their second consecutive tournament this upcoming weekend. CU is led by Ana Burilovic's 95 kills while Sydney Jordan and Cayla Payne have 63 kills, each. Taylor Simpson leads the team with 9.13 assists per set.
-WYO-
