LARAMIE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Cowgirls volleyball team saw moderate success over the weekend during the UniWyo Invite, going 2–1 against the three other participating teams. The University of Utah Utes, however, went undefeated and gave the Cowgirls their first home loss of the season.
The Cowgirls had an excellent start to their first batch of home games for the season. Wyoming went on to sweep both Coppin State University and the State University of New York Albany at the UniWyo Sports Complex on Thursday and Friday.
UW’s hitting percentage of .287 against Coppin’s .026 demonstrated the Cowgirls’ complete dominance right out of the gate at home. The Cowgirls performed 43 kills while Coppin State managed only 26, and they got 12 blocks in the stat book while the Coppin State Eagles couldn’t get a single one. Wyoming also outperformed its opponent in assists, aces and, of course, total points.
Not yet satisfied with their performance for the home crowd, the Cowgirls went on to have a similarly dominant and well-earned victory over the Albany Great Danes the very next day. Wyoming was statistically on fire Friday with a season-best hitting percentage of .388, while the Great Danes hit at just .194.
The Cowgirls were led offensively by sophomores Paige Lauterwasser and Emma Winter, who each added 13 kills. Winter efficaciously hit at .632 for the night. On Polish Heritage Night, Poland native Kasia Partyka averaged almost 14 assists per set and tallied a total of 41 for the night.
One game away from a complete sweep of the entire invite, the Cowgirls came face-to-face with the Utes, who had performed similarly well over the weekend up to that point, on Saturday afternoon. Before the conclusion of the game, Wyoming was 8–2 and Utah was 9–1 for the season.
The tables would completely flip on the Cowgirls, however, as they were the recipients of a total sweep this time. Wyoming could not keep with Utah in almost any stat; UW only outpaced the Utes in errors. Utah hit at .366 to Wyoming’s .143.
Despite the bittersweet conclusion to an otherwise successful outing, the Cowgirls can now look forward to entering conference play with a 8–3 overall record. Wyoming will challenge its first conference opponent of the year, Nevada, away on Thursday. Saturday will see a Wyoming–Utah State conference on the road as well.
For more information on the University of Wyoming’s volleyball team, visit the University of Wyoming Athletics web page.
