POCATELLO, Idaho — The Wyoming Cowgirls went unbeaten at the Idaho State Orange & Black Classic, opening the weekend with a five-set victory over Boise State before sweeping host Idaho State and closing the tournament with a four-set win over Pacific on Saturday.
Wyoming opened the tournament Thursday with a 25-20, 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-8 victory over Boise State. Emma Winter led the Cowgirls with a season-high 17 kills while hitting .417 and adding three blocks. Paige Lauterwasser finished with nine kills, while Emerson Macias and Reagan Sharp had eight apiece. Rylee Heinz added seven kills while hitting .333 and led Wyoming with four blocks. Sara Quigley and Maddy Stucky each surpassed 20 assists, with Quigley recording 23 assists and 10 digs for her first double-double of the season.
Wyoming also had a strong night serving against the Broncos, recording a season-high 10 aces. Quigley set a career high with four aces, while Peyton Carruth added three. Rya Fingerlin led the Cowgirls with 12 digs. Wyoming hit .261 as a team and hit .368 in the decisive fifth set, while Boise State hit just .045 in the final frame.
The Cowgirls continued the tournament Friday with a three-set sweep of Idaho State, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22. Wyoming trailed only once in the opening set and overcame an 11-17 deficit in the second by closing the set on a 14-4 run, including the final seven points. The Cowgirls never trailed in the third set, although the Bengals tied it at 21-21 and 22-22 before Wyoming scored the final three points.
Heinz and Anna Williams led Wyoming at the net, finishing with 11 and nine kills, respectively. Williams hit .615 while recording a career-high nine kills, and Heinz hit .409 while adding three blocks. Winter also had seven kills and three blocks, while Lauterwasser added nine kills. Fingerlin posted a career-high 19 digs, with Lauterwasser and Carruth each adding 10.
Quigley led Wyoming with 22 assists and two kills, while Stucky added 17 assists. The Cowgirls hit .242 as a team, including .415 in the third set, and held Idaho State to a .133 hitting percentage. Wyoming also finished with a 60-47 advantage in digs.
Wyoming closed the tournament Saturday with a 25-17, 23-25, 25-16, 25-22 victory over Pacific to finish 3-0 and claim the Orange & Black Classic title. The Cowgirls hit .288 while holding the Tigers to .164 and posted an 11-4 advantage in team blocks. Wyoming also held a 7-3 edge in service aces.
Lauterwasser led four Cowgirls in double figures with 16 kills while hitting .412, leaving her 16 kills shy of 1,000 for her career. Heinz added 12 kills and six blocks, while Macias and Winter each had 10 kills. Winter also recorded a season-high five blocks. Williams added seven kills and five blocks while hitting .353.
Quigley finished with a season-high 32 assists along with nine digs and three kills, while Stucky had 18 assists. Fingerlin recorded a career-high 21 digs and added five assists and two service aces. Carruth also set a career high with 13 digs.
The three victories improved Wyoming to 7-4 heading into Mountain West play. The Cowgirls will open conference action next weekend against UTEP in Laramie, with matches scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday.
