Cowgirls welcome Nevada for Saturday showdown

LARAMIE – The Wyoming volleyball team welcomes Nevada to the UniWyo Sports Complex for a single match against the Wolf Pack Saturday at 1 p.m.

The match will be Wyoming’s second-to-last home match of the season.

The Cowgirls (8-4, 8-4 MW) are coming off a split on the road last weekend at Fresno State, dropping a hard-fought five-setter Friday night, before bouncing back with a four-set victory in Saturday’s rematch.

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KC McMahon led the Cowgirls in both matches tallying a season-high 19 kills in each. McMahon hit .417 for the weekend, averaging 4.22 kills and 4.67 points per set against the Bulldogs while at the net, Jackie McBride tallied 11 total blocks, averaging 1.22 blocks per set. Hailey Zuroske notched her second double-double of the season in Friday’s match, as she had a career-high 13 kills to go along with 12 digs in the first match of the weekend.

In the back row, Erika Jones led UW with 42 total digs (4.67 per set) and had a career-best 24 in Friday’s loss. For her efforts, Jones was named the Mountain West’s Defensive Player of the Week. It was the first weekly honor of Jones’ career and the second time (Kaitlyn Gehler) that a Cowgirl has been named the defensive player of the week in the league.

McBride ranks in the top five in the Mountain West in blocks per set (3^rd, 1.26) and hitting percentage (5^th, .371) and as a team, the Cowgirls are second in the league averaging 2.70 blocks per set as a team and their .236 team hitting percentage ranks third-best in the MW.

Nevada's Andrea Alcaraz ranks fifth in the conference in assists per set at 8.33 while Sydney Petersen is second in the MW averaging 1.33 blocks per set. The Wolf Pack also has Reka Monteleone (3rd, 0.42) and Alcaraz (4th, 0.40) who rank in the top five in the league in service aces per set. Monteleone also ranks 10th in the MW averaging 3.52 points per set.

As a team, Nevada is third in the league in team service aces per set at 1.81. As a team, the Wolf Pack is hitting .170 while opponents are hitting .238 on the season. Lee Nelson is in his sixth season leading the Wolf Pack.

Wyoming leads the all-time series with Nevada, 14-3 and is 9-1 at home all time in the series. The Cowgirls carry a five-match winning streak against the Wolf Pack into Saturday’s contest, including winning both contests last season.

* University of Wyoming press release