Cowgirls Host Broncos Saturday Night in Arena-Auditorium, First serve 7 p.m.
Photo by John Durgee, courtesy University of Wyoming Athletics
LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 10, 2024) – The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team returns to home action this Saturday with a 7 p.m., contest against Boise State. Saturday’s match will take place in the Arena-Auditorium. Fans with a ticket from Saturday afternoon’s football game against San Diego State, can get into the volleyball match for just $5.
The Cowgirls are coming off a four-set loss Tuesday at Colorado State in the first meeting this season of the Border War. Wyoming took the first set against the Rams before CSU rallied to win the next three to take the match. Paige Lauterwasser and Emma Winter both finished in double figures for kills against the Rams, tallying 19 and 12, respectively in the loss. Sierra Grizzle, meanwhile, led the UW defense with 20 digs on the night.
Lauterwasser now ranks seventh in the league in both kills (3.48) and points per set (3.83) this season. In conference play, those numbers are even better as she ranks fourth (3.95) and fifth (4.21). Defensively, the Cowgirls continue to be paced by their two middle blockers, Sarah Holcomb (1.30) and Kayla Mazzocca (1.28). The duo ranks second and third, respectively, in the league in blocks per set. As a team, UW’s 164 total blocks in 2024 ranks 11th in the country.
Kasia Partyka, who had 43 assists Tuesday night, is now averaging 9.77 assists per set this season, a mark which ranks third-best in the league. Partyka surpassed 3,000 career kills earlier this month. Grizzle’s 3.95 digs per set ranks fourth in the MW while her team-leading 0.36 service aces per set is fifth in the conference. As a squad, the Cowgirls rank second in the Mountain West in aces per set (1.51), blocks per set (2.69) and opponent hitting percentage (.176).
Boise State is led by the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year in Paige Bartsch. Bartsch currently ranks sixth in the MW averaging 3.51 kills per set while her 4.40 points per set is fifth. The Broncos, who lead the conference in service aces per set by nearly a full ace per, have the league’s leader in service aces in Breanna Mitchell (0.61), Bartsch is third (0.53) while Elle Cotton is sixth (0.36). Mitchell is second in the MW averaging 4.04 digs per set. Boise is third in the conference allowing opponents to hit just .179 and is fourth in assists (12.06) and blocks (2.47) per set.