LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 18, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls dropped a slugfest of a five-setter Thursday night against Long Beach State to open the UniWyo Invite. Set scores went 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25 and 15-13.

The Cowgirls (3-6) jumped on LBSU early in the evening, surging out to a 15-4 lead in the opening set. From there, the two teams traded points back-and-forth before Wyoming was able to close out the set. In the second, it was Long Beach's turn to jump out to an early lead. The Beach led by as many as seven points in the frame and led 23-19 late. A late Cowgirl rally in the set came up just short as Long Beach State was able to hold on to knot things up at one set each.

In the third, the Cowgirls fell behind again, trailing 20-15 late in the set. However, this time UW completed the comeback, closing the set on a 10-2 run and scoring the final three points of the set as Sara Quigley took over late in the third, recording back-to-back kills and a solo block to end things. After The Beach controlled the fourth set to setup a decisive fifth set, the Cowgirls were again tasked with fighting back from behind. LBSU led 13-8 late in the fifth, before five-straight Cowgirl points tied things at 13-13. However, The Beach responded with two final kills from Logan King to escape with the victory.

Addy Cook had a big night offensively for Wyoming, as she tallied a team-best 15 kills while hitting .393 in the loss. Sarah Holcomb, Paige Lauterwasser and Claire Wagstaff all added nine kills each while Evelyn Udezue chipped in with seven. Quigley paced the Cowgirls' two-setter offense with 28 assists and added nine digs, three kills and along with Lily LaFlesch, led the way with two service aces. Maddy Stucky had a career-high 21 assists in the contest.

Skylar Erickson had a monster night defensively and passing the ball. Erickson's 25 digs sets a new career-high for her in that category. Erickson was also a perfect 29-for-29 in service receive against LBSU. LaFlesch and Lauterwasser had 10 digs each in the loss.

As a team, Long Beach hit .263 on the night while UW hit .233. LBSU also enjoyed a 12-8 advantage in team blocks. The Cowgirls doubled-up The Beach (6-3) in service aces.

Wyoming returns to action with its second match of the UniWyo Invite. The Cowgirls host Idaho State at 6:30 p.m.

-WYO-