Cowgirls Move on to NIVC Quarterfinals Behind Sweep at UNC
* University of Wyoming press release
GREELEY, Colo., – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team kept the postseason train rolling Friday night on the road at Northern Colorado. The Cowgirls earned a hard-fought sweep over the Bears in the second round of the NIVC to advance to next week’s quarterfinals. All three sets were as close as possible, as scores went 25-23, 32-30 and 26-24.
Much like they did in their first round win Thursday, the Cowgirls (22-9) showed great resiliency in the sweep Friday night, staving off four set points in the second and another in the third. Wyoming trailed 18-15 in the opening set before responding with a 6-1 run to take a 21-19 lead. After UNC tied the set at 22-22, Wyoming ended the first scoring three of the final four points. Paige Lauterwasser ended the set with three consecutive kills to push UW in front.
The second was a wild marathon of an affair that featured 19 ties and 10 lead changes in total. Wyoming trailed by as many as four points a couple of times in the set and also found itself facing set point at 24-22, 24-23, 25-24 and 28-27. Each time though, the Cowgirls extended the set and eventually broke through with back-to-back points to break a 30-30 tie to take Northern Colorado to the brink.
Wyoming controlled most of the third set and led at one point, 15-11. Later in the set, the Cowgirls took a 22-19 lead before UNC would rattle off four-straight points to take a 23-22 lead. After the two teams traded points, the Cowgirls faced set point at 24-23 but responded as they did all night, scoring the next three points to secure their second postseason win of the season.
Lauterwasser was sensational in the win as she tallied a team-high 14 kills and hit .440 to go along with three block assists. Sarah Holcomb and Rylee Schulz had 10 kills each with Holcomb hitting .529 in the win. Corin Carruth and Evelyn Udezue added seven and six, respectively while Kasia Partyka recorded five kills on all five of her swings. Partyka led the match with 41 assists.
Defensively, Holcomb was a wall at the net as she recorded a career-high 11 blocks. Holcomb had three solo and eight block assists in the match. Those 11 blocks are just two off the program record for most individual blocks in a three-set match. In the back row, Sierra Grizzle led the way with 14 digs for the second consecutive contest.
Overall, Wyoming hit .373 in the contest while UNC hit .267. Both teams had three service aces on the night. The Cowgirls doubled-up Northern Colorado in team blocks, 12-6.
Next up are the quarterfinals of the NIVC. Wyoming will face Montana State on Dec. 6 with the site yet to be determined. Stay tuned to gowyo.com and social media for updates.