BROOKINGS, S.D. (Sept. 7, 2025) – The Wyoming Cowgirls battled all match but unfortunately came up just short Sunday in a four-set loss at South Dakota State to close the SDSU Invite. UW, who once again opened the match by winning the first set, was felled by dropping a pair of "extra point" sets Sunday in the 25-20, 26-28, 21-25 and 24-26 loss.
Much like on Saturday, the Cowgirls (2-3) took an early match lead by winning the opening set. Wyoming never trailed in the first to break out to an early lead. In the second, the Cowgirls seemed to be well within control before the Jackrabbits (3-1) turned an early five-point deficit and a late 21-17 deficit into a comeback win. SDSU went on a 5-1 run to take a 22-21 advantage and eventually turned its fourth set point of the second set, into a win.
The third set was mostly controlled by South Dakota State before the final fourth set, which featured 17 ties and eight lead changes. SDSU trailed in the fourth 20-17, before scoring four-straight points to reclaim the lead for good in the frame. The Cowgirls would tie things four more times late in the set, before bowing out thanks to back-to-back points from the Jackrabbits.
Addy Cook led the Cowgirls in what was the best match of her young career at UW. Cook tallied a match-high 19 kills and hit .341 in the contest. Addy Thorington also had double figure kills, finishing with 14. Sarah Holcomb and Paige Lauterwasser finished the loss with eight kills each.
Defensively, Evelyn Udezue led the way at the net with four block assists while Holcomb added three. Four other Cowgirls had two block assists each on the day. In the back row, Skylar Erickson notched a season-best 17 digs while Lily LaFlesch also finished with double-digit digs, as she had 10.
Wyoming held a 6-5 edge in service aces in the contest and was led by two each from Lauterwasser and Udezue. The Cowgirls did commit eight serving errors though, to SDSU's five. The Jackrabbits had a slight 9-8 edge in team blocks. South Dakota State also was a bit more efficient on offense, hitting .220 and recording 60 kills while Wyoming hit .210 and had 58 kills.
The Brown & Gold looks to rebound with another tough road trip next week as it travels to the TCU for the Fight in the Fort. The Cowgirls will face No. 16 Missouri, 24th-ranked TCU and Rhode Island at the tourney.
-WYO-
