LARAMIE, Wyo. (Sept. 25, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls held on for dear life Thursday night, but in the end, they were able to beat rival Colorado State in a five-set nail-biter to open Mountain West play in front of a raucous crowd. Wyoming was able to pull out the victory behind set scores of 25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 19-25 and 15-13.

It was a tale of two different matches Thursday, as the Cowgirls controlled much of the first two sets to stake an early 2-0 lead in the match. Wyoming (5-7, 1-0 MW) trailed just once, at 1-0 in the first set to jump out to the lead early. The second set was a bit more taught, as the Cowgirls trailed 13-10 in the frame. However, a 12-5 surge pushed UW to a 22-18 lead before they were able to close out the set, to take a 2-0 lead in the contest.

The third and fourth sets were different stories, as it was CSU's turn to control things. The Rams trailed early in the third set before taking command in that frame. The same thing happened in the fourth, as an early two-point lead turned into a six point deficit as Colorado State seemed to firmly grasp momentum.

In the fifth, the Rams took an early lead at 3-2 before a 6-1 Cowgirl run pushed the momentum squarely back on the Brown & Gold side of the court, as Wyoming led 8-4. After that, it was CSU's turn to respond, as it scored five straight points to take a 10-9 lead. Then it was the Cowgirls' turn, scoring 4-of-5 points to take a late 14-11 lead and after CSU made it 14-13, a Paige Lauterwasser kill sealed the victory for Wyoming in Border War Round One.

Jillian Gregory's career-high 16 kills led the Cowgirl offense in the thriller. Three other Cowgirls finished with double-digit kills as Lauterwasser added 11, to go along with 14 digs. Sarah Holcomb and Claire Wagstaff added 10 each in the win.

Sara Quigley, who had 26 assists, also added seven digs and six kills on just nine attacks on the night. Maddy Stucky, making her first-career start, notched a career-best 30 assists on the evening.

Defensively, Holcomb led the charge with seven total blocks in the victory. Skylar Erickson recorded a match-high 19 digs while Lily LaFlesch added 13 of her own. Off the bench, Jordan Sandy came in clutch, recording seven kills, hitting .500 and adding four total blocks.

As a team, CSU out-hit the Cowgirls, .281 to .268. However, Wyoming hit .267 in the decisive fifth set while the Rams hit just .281. Wyoming held an 11-9 edge in total blocks on the evening while Colorado State had four aces to UW's three. Both teams committed five serving errors.

Next up, Wyoming looks to make it a 2-0 start to conference play at home, as Air Force comes to town for a 1 p.m., first serve Saturday.

-WYO-