BOISE, Idaho — The Wyoming Cowgirls came up short Thursday night in a five-set battle on the road at Boise State, as the Broncos won 23–25, 25–23, 23–25, 27–25, 15–10.
The back-and-forth battle featured a total of 47 ties and 23 lead changes in the five sets.
The Cowgirls showed resiliency in their first- and third-set victories, and looked poised at points to take the win on the road. Wyoming ended the first set on a 6–1 run, turning a 22–19 deficit late in the set into the 25–23 comeback win. The opening set had eight different ties and four lead changes.
The subsequent sets were also tightly contested. The second set featured 10 ties and four lead changes, while the third saw 12 and seven.
In the third set, Wyoming trailed 23–20 late, but managed a five-point run to take a 2–1 advantage in the match.
UW had an early lead in the fourth and eventually took a 13–10 lead partway through the set. However, the Broncos responded from there and eventually took a 24–22 lead. The Cowgirls staved off three set points before Boise got back-to-back points after a 25–25 tie to win the fourth and force a winner-take-all fifth.
In the fifth, the Cowgirls again jumped out early, taking a 4–1 lead before Boise State would push out in front. The Broncos rattled off four consecutive points to turn a 9–9 tie into a 13–9 advantage and closed on a 6–1 run down the stretch to take the set and the match.
Emma Winter and Paige Lauterwasser led the Cowgirl attack with 19 and 15 kills, respectively. The 19 kills are a new career high for Winter, who also hit .318 on the night. Lauterwasser tied a career-best with 14 digs in the loss.
Kasia Partyka and Kayla Mazzocca had eight kills each, while Sarah Holcomb added seven and hit .357.
