LARAMIE – The Brown & Gold Scrimmage, set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, will be the first competitive match in the UniWyo Sports Complex this season.
 
Perhaps the most competitive match of all, considering how well the sides know each other.
 
Wyoming volleyball has been gearing up for the 2026 season since the spring and faced some high-level competition during a summer trip through the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Italy.
 
The Cowgirls, led by two-time all-Mountain West standout Paige Lauterwasser, are embracing the spotlight of being among the favorites in the reshaped conference.
 
"We have some great new girls, and I'm so excited," senior Emma Winter said. "Our gym is the most competitive it has ever been. When we play 6-on-6, look out, like it is so competitive and it's so fun."
 
UW finished third in the MW last season with 13 conference wins, the most since the 2019 team went 16-2.
 
"There's a shift in general. I think last year we were a little bit of an underdog, and I don't think that's going to be the case this year," fourth-year head coach Kaylee Prigge said of expectations for her team. "There's a much bigger target on our back, as we return the highest finishing team in the Mountain West that's staying. We've talked about that mentality shift a lot and how we're going to handle it. I'm excited about that challenge and opportunity."
 
The other familiar faces delivering season tickets to Laramie fans this week were Rya Fingerlin, Abi Milby, Sara Quigley, Reagan Sharp, Maddy Stucky, Addy Thorington, Evelyn Udezue and Anna Williams.
 
Prigge added transfers Senna Roberts-Navarro (Seton Hall), Peyton Carruth and Ann Melgren (Houston Christian). The freshmen class of Kristina Bozovic, Rylee Heinz, Ruby Jensen and Emerson Macias enrolled early to get a head start.
 
The three new programs joining the conference – UTEP, UC Davis and Hawaii – had an average RPI of 76 last season while the five departing members now in the Pac-12 had an average RPI of 119. Grand Canyon, which joined the MW last season, had an RPI of 87.
 
"I think we will regularly be a two-bid league in women's volleyball moving forward," Prigge said. "UTEP's RPI last year was 19. The average RPI of the three teams that join us is about 70 over the last two years. The average RPI of the teams we lost to the Pac-12 is about 100 over the last two years. So, we're really excited about the new challenges ahead of us."
 
UW will host UTEP, UC Davis and Hawaii at the UniWyo Sports Complex.
 
The new MW scheduling format features 18 matches over nine weeks with each institution playing every conference opponent twice. Most matchups will follow a Thursday-Saturday format against the same opponent, with the exception of travel partner weeks and a Wednesday-Thursday slate to close the regular season.
 
Air Force is UW's traveling partner.
 
"The Mountain West volleyball gods had us in mind this year," Prigge said of the conference home slate, which also includes a visit from UNLV.
 
The Cowgirls also have an impressive non-conference schedule that includes hosting Texas Tech in the opener on Aug. 28 in the Arena-Auditorium. Prigge is hoping the program can break its single-game attendance record of 4,081 set in 1994 when No. 1 UCLA visited Laramie.
 
"It's good for our program to be in a big arena, especially in our home environment, because we play so many of them elsewhere," Prigge said.
 
UW plays former MW rival Utah on Sept. 4 in Salt Lake City and welcomes Border War rival Colorado State for a non-conference game on Sept. 12 in the UniWyo, which follows Cowboy football's home opener against Northern Colorado.
 
"It's a no-brainer, and it'll be here to stay," Prigge said of scheduling the Rams. "I'm excited that they're at home this year. They return pretty much everyone as well, and they're going to be an awesome challenge for us as we prepare for our conference season. We'll alternate every year, so home this year, away next year, and so on."
 
When the preseason MW coaches' poll is released next week, the Cowgirls will likely be picked near the top.
 
But the competition for the crown will be rigorous. The top four teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the MW Championships Nov. 24-25 in Las Vegas.
 
"It's a little bit of a mindset shift," Winter said. "But for me personally, I have to go in with the underdog mentality, like something to prove almost."
 
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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