LARAMIE – Cowgirls volleyball had lost its early-season swagger.
 
Wyoming, which stormed out to a 5-0 record during its first two road trips of the season, dropped the first two games at Colorado's tournament last weekend.
 
Then Paige Lauterwasser and the Pokes – after losing the first set to the Buffaloes of the Big 12 – dominated CU during a 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 25-10 victory in Boulder.
 
UW head coach Kaylee Prigge pushed the right buttons with her talented squad before the second set.
 
"Kaylee kind of drilled into us: You guys can compete with this team. Take this game, don't let stuff happen to you, you control it. That really motivated us and once we started going it just kept rolling," Lauterwasser said. "It felt like us again. When our defense is on, I feel like nobody can beat us and we're the team that controls the game.
 
"The confidence my teammates have in me, I can't perform the way I do without them. It's just an awesome group of girls to be playing with on the court. The energy that we have is super fun."
 
Lauterwasser led the comeback with 11 kills and was named to the all-tournament team. The sophomore from Naperville, Ill., has been picking up the slack for the Cowgirls as the team deals with injuries at the outside hitter and middle blocker positions.
 
A year ago, Lauterwasser was content to develop behind older players until injuries forced her into the lineup. She started 17 of UW's final 18 games in 2023 and finished fourth on the team in kills per set (2.14) as a true freshman.

Now the versatile 6-foot Lauterwasser is thriving in a lead role.
 
"She is carrying a heavy load for us," Prigge said. "She is one of the few players playing six rotations and as a six-rotation pin hitter you must do every skill. I think it's hard in that role to compartmentalize all the things you have on your plate. It's not always going to go really well, so when one thing isn't going well, how am I not letting that affect my other responsibilities? She has done that at a really high level all season for us and it's new for her.
 
"She hasn't played this position and then the load that she's doing from an offensive standpoint, from a passing standpoint … she's just shown a ton of maturity and growth even from the spring to this fall. I'm really proud of what she's doing and the teammate she is being through it all."
 
Lauterwasser originally signed with UW when Chad Callihan was still the head coach. Shortly after making plans to play for the Cowgirls, Callihan stepped down and athletics director Tom Burman tabbed Prigge to take over the program.
 
"I was definitely a little nervous," Lauterwasser said. "It was a few days after I signed that they announced that Kaylee was taking over. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, my head coach just changed.'
 
"But I was still familiar with Kaylee. I wanted a change of pace. I'm from a bigger town in Illinois so I kind of wanted to try out the small, hometown feel."
 
The Cowgirls (6-2) will finally play a home match against Coppin State at 6 p.m. Thursday to open the UniWyo Invite. UW will also play Albany on Friday (6:30 p.m.) before trying to pick up another win against a Big 12 opponent vs. Utah on Ssaturday (1 p.m.).
 
"We're ready. Being on the road three weeks in a row is a little rough," Lauterwasser said. "We go to these big gyms and it's empty and it's a little awkward. It's almost like you feel bad for these people like, geez, no one is going to your games. Having the community we have here and the amount of support, it's just going to be so fun being at home and playing in front of the community."
 
This three-game home stand will be the final non-conference tune-ups for the Cowgirls before Mountain West play begins.
 
UW was picked to finish sixth in the preseason MW coaches poll, but the depth on the roster Prigge has quickly assembled and developed is already paying off.
 
In addition to Lauterwasser's heroics at CU, West Virginia transfer Emma Winters had 10 kills with Kayla Mazzocca and Sarah Holcomb adding nine and eight kills, respectively.
 
The Cowgirls rank fifth nationally in blocks per set (3.0).
 
"We, as a program, want to align with Wyoming and to me that is defense as a team. We want to be gritty," Prigge said. "When I think of Paige as a personality and the person, she's a competitor to her core. That is also Wyoming, like scrappy.
 
"There's never a moment where I'm doubting if Paige is stepping in to want to win. (At CU) was no different. She's definitely all in for whatever the mission is."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.