Cowgirls Drop Five-Set Battle at Nevada to Open League Play
UW travels to Utah State Saturday
RENO, Nev. (Sept. 26, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team fought back, but ultimately dropped a five-set heartbreaker on the road Thursday night to open Mountain West play at Nevada. The Cowgirls fell to the Wolf Pack 25-22, 20-25, 25-16, 22-25 and 16-14.
Wyoming (8-4, 0-1 MW) had match point in the fifth set leading 14-12, but the Wolf Pack (8-5, 1-0 MW) responded after a timeout with four straight points to escape with the win. Nevada came out to start the match by ending the first set on a 7-2 run to jump out to an early lead in the match. After UW rallied to control and win the second set, it was Nevada’s turn to control a set, and did so in the third, leading wire-to-wire to take a two sets to one lead in the contest.
The Cowgirls responded in the fourth, rallying in the set to force a decisive fifth. The fifth was a battle from start-to-finish, featuring 10 ties and four lead changes. The last lead change proved to be fatal for the Cowgirls in the match.
Four Cowgirls finished with double-digit kills on offense. A trio of Cowgirls, Sarah Holcomb, Paige Lauterwasser and Sonte Stewart led the way with 11 kills each. Emma Winter had 10 in the loss. Holcomb hit .458 on offense and was a monster defensively at the net, tying a career-high with 11 blocks (six solo, five assisted) and recording her second-career double-double.
Sierra Grizzle led the back row with 16 digs on the night while Kasia Partyka tallied 12. It was also Partyka’s seventh double-double of 2024 as she paced Wyoming with 37 assists. Grizzle led the team with a pair of aces on the night.
Wyoming hit .209 in the contest and held Nevada to a .143 clip as a team. However, the Cowgirls hit -.105 in the fifth and final set. UW had a 17-8 advantage in team blocks while Nevada had a 7-5 edge in service aces. The Cowgirls ended the match with 16 service errors while Nevada had just seven.
The Cowgirls now look to rebound on the road Saturday. Wyoming makes a trip to Utah to face defending conference champion Utah State at 1 p.m.
-WYO-
Kevin DeVries
Athletic Communications Coordinator - Tennis, Volleyball and Women’s Basketball
University of Wyoming Athletics