LARAMIE – Addy Thorington sleeps well on buses and planes.
 
She is used to sacrifice. She is unapologetically loyal and protective.
 
Wyoming's outside hitter from Powell is a remarkable teammate, shaped by the challenges and responsibilities of her childhood.
 
Thorington spent her formative years sharing a bedroom with her younger brother, Wyatt, who she notes is on the "higher end" of the autism spectrum.
 
"I guess I have a different quote, unquote childhood trauma than most people," Thorington said before taking the court for practice this week. "Mine was my brother almost drowning in a lake because he doesn't understand that the mud sinks. Yeah, just stuff like that. It's a big learning curve for me, and I really think it has shaped who I am today and how I view people, especially people with disabilities, all sorts of disabilities.
 
"It just has a special place in my heart."
 
The Cowgirls have designated Thursday's match against Hawai'i at the Uni-Wyo Sports Complex (6:30 p.m., MW+) as "Autism Awareness Night."
 
Each season, the program chooses a cause to highlight, usually one that directly impacts a player on the team.
 
Two years ago, UW focused the spotlight on Type 1 diabetes, which middle blocker Kayla Mazzocca played through. Last season, the program illuminated pancreatic cancer, which senior outside hitter Emma Winter's mother, Jennifer, battled until her death on Jan. 26.
 
Thorington and the Cowgirls will be thinking about Wyatt, who doesn't travel to games, when they face the first-place Rainbow Wahine, who have not dropped a set during their 6-0 start in Mountain West play.
 
"It really means so much to me because autism is such a big part of my life," Thorington said. "To have people have awareness of it is really, really cool, and I think it just shows how much my coaches, teammates, and everybody in this community really cares about me."
 
Thorington said that when she shared a room with Wyatt, he was "just loud and messed with all my stuff." Eventually, they got their own rooms, but there were other challenges outside the home as teenagers.
 
"We were in high school at the same time, and I don't even know if I should be sharing this, but I'm going to share it anyway. I heard my brother out in the hallway and this kid in front of me was making fun of him," Thorington said. "I like tapped him on the shoulder and I said, 'You think that's funny, huh?' He got really scared, so I don't think anybody was going to test me after that.
 
"I will always be there to stick up for him and anybody with disabilities, and it has given me so much patience, just to have patience in my life with everything, honestly."
 
Even though the 6-foot Thorington was a dominant athlete in high school, leading the state with 603 kills as a senior, earning all-state honors in basketball and helping Powell win multiple state track and field championships, she was not on UW head coach Kaylee Prigge's radar.
 
"Addy's recruitment story is insane," Prigge said. "We try to send one person to the state tournament every year, but Powell's not always in the state tournament. We didn't even know she existed until her senior year of high school."
 
Thorington's high school bus driver popped into the North Fieldhouse one day to alert Prigge and her staff to the hidden gem they were missing. Powell girls basketball coach Chelsea Kistler also emailed the Cowgirls.
 
After seeing Thorington's potential and skills on film, associate head coach Becky Baker traveled to the regional tournament to scout the Powell prospect in person.
 
"Becky came to the worst game I played at regionals. She saw something in me, and I'm so thankful she did," Thorington said with a smile. "When she came in, oh my gosh, me and my parents were sitting up in the stands getting ready to play. Becky being Becky, she came in (wearing) a yellow dry-fit shirt when the whole gym is green. Like nobody else has yellow like ever, and she's just came in a bright yellow shirt. We're like, oh my God. There she is. There she is. Oh my God, that's the coach.
 
"Me and my parents were freaking out. But my recruiting journey was really fun and just super sporadic and crazy, and I loved every bit of it."
 
Thorington, who never played club volleyball, racked up more than 1,300 kills during her high school career. As a senior, she had 344 digs, 119 blocks and 81 service aces to go with her 603 kills.
 
Her freshman season with the Cowgirls in 2024 was a crash course in high-level volleyball.
 
"I knew how to play volleyball obviously, but I didn't know like the systems. I didn't even really know rotations if I'm going be honest," Thorington said. "We do this thing every single day called eye sequencing because you watch the ball with your eyes. I thought it was called high sequencing until last year. I've just learned so much from all my teammates, my coaches, everybody around me.
 
"I feel like I've really developed my game IQ-wise tenfold."
 
After playing in four sets as a freshman and 54 as a sophomore, Thorington already has 81 kills in 47 sets this season, tied for third on the team behind all-MW standout Paige Lauterwasser (179) and Winter (133). She is also third on the team with 15 service aces and fifth with 17 blocks.
 
Prigge sees the toughness Thorington developed alongside Wyatt as her superpower.
 
"Addy's really positive about everything. She doesn't talk about it a ton, but when you're the sibling of someone who is going through something like that, lives with something like that, it can be hard," Prigge said. "There are sacrifices that are made. Her personality is fiercely confident, fiercely loyal, and I have a feeling that a lot of that comes from the way she grew up almost feeling like her brother's protector in some way, shape or form."
 
Wyatt is verbal but does not engage in conversations. If you ask him a question, he'll give you a yes-or-no answer. He spends most of his time at home.
 
"He likes his house, he likes his space, so he's not able to come (to games)," Thorington said.
 
Thorington's parents, Zack and Dana Thorington, and her older sister, Hartley Washington, will be in the crowd Thursday night.
 
Wyatt will be there in spirit, wearing a Cowgirl volleyball sweatshirt with Addy's No. 12 on the back.
 
"I'm so pumped that we have such a good community here in Laramie and I know people are going to come support," Thorington said. "It's just going to be so fun, the environment's going be great, awesome, cool. I appreciate it."
 
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.
 
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