LARAMIE — The Wyoming Cowgirls return home this week for their second tournament of the nonconference season, hosting UC Santa Barbara, South Dakota and Colorado State in the UniWyo Invite.
Wyoming will face UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. Thursday, South Dakota at 6 p.m. Friday and Colorado State at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Cowgirls enter the tournament 3-2 after going 1-2 at the Utah Classic last weekend. Wyoming’s lone victory came in four sets against Eastern Illinois, when Ruby Jensen recorded the first double-double of her career with 10 kills and 10 blocks, leading the Cowgirls in both categories. In a five-set loss to Long Beach State, Rylee Heinz recorded a career-high 14 kills while hitting .360 and tied her career best with six total blocks.
Jensen is averaging 1.05 blocks per set entering the weekend, which ranks second in the Mountain West, while Heinz is third at 1.00. Rya Fingerlin is averaging 3.26 digs per set, fifth-best in the conference. Paige Lauterwasser ranks 10th in the Mountain West with 2.63 kills per set and is 78 kills away from joining Wyoming’s 1,000-kill club. Heinz is hitting .329 through five matches, ranking seventh in the conference.
As a team, Wyoming is holding opponents to a .167 hitting percentage, the best mark in the Mountain West. The Cowgirls also rank third in the conference in hitting percentage at .226, fourth in blocks per set at 2.11 and fifth in service aces at 1.37 per set.
UC Santa Barbara enters the weekend 4-1 and is 1-0 in its only road match this season. The Gauchos are hitting .252 as a team while averaging 14.21 kills and 13.16 assists per set. Sophia Wendlick leads UCSB with 73 kills, averaging 3.84 per set, while hitting .310. Gabi Martinez is averaging 3.47 kills per set.
The Gauchos use a two-setter offense, with Ayva Ostovar averaging 5.58 assists per set and Milan Rex averaging 5.32. Bella Mathis leads UC Santa Barbara with 21 blocks and is averaging 1.11 blocks per set.
South Dakota enters the UniWyo Invite at 5-1 and has wins over Mountain West opponent Air Force and Missouri Valley Conference power Northern Iowa. The Coyotes are 1-0 on the road this season and are averaging 14.30 kills and 13.74 assists per set.
South Dakota also has been strong defensively, averaging 17.83 digs and 1.57 service aces per set. Lauren Medeck leads the Coyotes with 4.00 kills per set, while Gabi Zachariasen and Audrey Nelson average 2.55 and 2.57, respectively. Avery Van Hook is averaging 10.87 assists per set and also averages 4.17 digs. Sierra Pokharel leads South Dakota with 4.22 digs per set.
Colorado State enters the weekend with two losses, both against ranked opponents. The Rams lost to SMU in four sets and North Carolina in five.
Halle Jameson leads Colorado State with 70 kills and ranks third on the team with 13 blocks. Kekua Richards and Eve Wilson are averaging 1.10 and 1.00 blocks per set, respectively. Erin Debiec is averaging 10.05 assists per set, while Karsyn Fetzer leads the Rams with 3.15 digs per set. Colorado State is averaging 2.35 blocks per set as a team.
The UniWyo Invite gives Wyoming three consecutive home matches as the Cowgirls return to the Arena-Auditorium for the second home tournament of the season.
