LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 24, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team opens Mountain West play on the road this week with trips to Nevada and Utah State. Wyoming will face the Wolf Pack at 7 p.m., Mountain Time Thursday before facing USU at 1 p.m., Saturday.
The Cowgirls (8-3), who finished just outside qualifying for the Mountain West Tournament last season, went 9-9 last season in league play and finished seventh. Wyoming closed last season winning 4-of-5 down the stretch to end the regular season.
UW is coming off a 2-1 weekend at home last week in the UniWyo Invite. The Cowgirls swept both Coppin State and UAlbany before closing the tourney with a loss to Utah. Paige Lauterwasser led the Cowgirl attack at the tournament, averaging 4.22 kills per set while hitting .281. Lauterwasser recorded 12-or-more kills in all three matches. Heading into league play, she is eighth in the league in both kills (3.26) and points (3.65) per set.
After a strong weekend at home in which she averaged 12 assists per set, Kasia Partyka now leads the league averaging 10.14 per set for the season. Defensively, the two middles for Wyoming, Kayla Mazzocca and Sarah Holcomb rank second and third, respectively in the Mountain West in blocks per set with 1.45 and 1.26 per. Mazzocca's 61 total blocks this season are the 15th-most in the nation currently. In the back row, libero Sierra Grizzle's 4.14 digs per set are the second-most in the conference.
The Cowgirls are hitting .242 as a team, which ranks fourth in the league and are holding their opponents to just a .159 clip. That mark is second in the league in top-40 in the nation. Wyoming is also second in the MW averaging 2.81 blocks per set, which ranks 16th nationally. UW ranks in the top-half of the league in most statistical categories.
Thursday will be Nevada's first home match of the season. The Wolf Pack enters league play at 7-5 overall and are looking to snap a three-match losing streak. Nevada has three student-athletes with 124-or-more kills in 2024. Gabby McLaughlin leads the team with 172 kills and ranks sixth in the league averaging 3.58 kills per set. Bella Snyder is third on the team with 124 kills and ranks seventh in the MW with a .367 hitting percentage. Tehya Maeva's 8.58 assists per set is fifth-best in the league. Defensively, Kinsley Singleton is averaging a league-leading 4.29 digs per set.
Defending league champion Utah State has had a challenging non-conference schedule in 2024 in which it played five power conference schools. The Aggies are 0-3 at home this season. USU is led by Adna Mehmedovic's 101 kills. On defense, Kelsey Waton's 1.16 blocks per set ranks sixth in the league. Utah State has used three different setters this season with Kaylie Kofe leading the team with 190 assists. The Aggies have won five-straight in the series against the Cowgirls.
-WYO-
