LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 20, 2026) – The Wyoming Cowgirls open their four-match road swing this week with a trip to the desert to face Grand Canyon in a pair of contests. The Cowgirls and Lopes play at 7 p.m., Mountain Time Thursday and Saturday at 2 p.m.
Wyoming (10-9, 3-5 MW) is coming off a pair of hard-fought losses at home last week against conference-leading Hawai'i. The Cowgirls, who pushed the Rainbow Wahine to the brink Thursday in a five-set loss, then fell in four sets in Saturday's series finale. Entering the week, Hawai'i had not lost a single set in Mountain West play.
Paige Lauterwasser and Addy Thorington led the Cowgirl offense in the two losses with 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Lauterwasser, who also notched 30 digs against Hawai'i, now leads Wyoming in both kills and digs per set, averaging 2.75 per in both categories. In conference play, Lauterwasser is up to 2.9 kills a set and is averaging a team-high 3.24 points per. In the back row, Lauterwasser is averaging 2.97 digs per. Lauterwasser has also recorded four consecutive double-doubles.
Also individually, Rylee Heinz ranks seventh in the league averaging 0.97 blocks per set, while her .287 hitting percentage ranks ninth in the MW. Peyton Carruth's 0.30 service aces a set are eighth in the conference. Sara Quigley is averaging a team-leading 5.28 assists per set, which ranks ninth in the league.
As a team, UW ranks fifth in the Mountain West in opponent hitting percentage holding teams to a .216 hitting percentage. The Cowgirls also rank fifth in team service aces a set with 1.42. Wyoming is also sixth in the league in assists (11.43), kills (12.32) and blocks (2.06) per set, as does its .201 team hitting percentage.
Grand Canyon is led offensively by Starr Williams' 3.75 kills per set, which ranks second-best in the Mountain West. Williams also ranks second in the league averaging 4.01 points per set. A pair of Lopes, Aubrey Goodere and Aubrey Bellus ranks sixth in the conference in hitting percentage, hitting .325 this season. The duo also rank fifth (Goodere) and eighth (Bellus) respecitvely, in the MW in blocks per set with 1.04 and 0.90 per, respectively. Bella Nunez's 5.68 assists per set ranks eighth in the Mountain West.
As a team, GCU ranks second in the league with a team hitting percentage of .234 and is fifth in both assists (11.46) and kills (12.43) per set. Defensively, the Lopes rank third in the MW in blocks per set with 2.16 and fourth in digs per set with 13.86. Grand Canyon is 3-3 in home matches this season.
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