Cowgirls Soar Past Falcons

LARAMIE – Courtney Chacon recorded a match-high 21 assists and Laura Beach tied her career-high in hitting percentage to guide the University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team to its seventh-straight victory at home on Thursday night.

UW defeated Air Force in straight sets (25-15, 25-23, 25-21) in front of a crowd of 900 in the UniWyo Sports Complex.  

With the win, Wyoming (14-3, 4-1 MW) has now defeated the Falcons (8-11, 1-3 MW) 22 of the last 23 times dating back to 2004, including four straight.

 “We came out very well and played clean. Our energy was great to begin with, as we tried to keep them out of rhythm. We did have some very uncharacteristic errors at times and that allows a team to hang around and gain confidence, but we will do everything we can to make sure we don’t continue to repeat that.” – UW Head Volleyball Coach Chad Callihan.

Laura Beach had six kills against Air Force to help tie her career-high in hitting percentage at .750 (6-0-8), while senior Bridget Shanahan led UW with nine kills on the evening. Kayla Slofkiss chipped in eight kills, while Kayla Henderson also added six against the Falcons.

To go along with her 21 assists, Chacon had a team-high eight digs. It proved to be Chacon’s ninth match this season with at least 20 assists. Allison Waldvogel contributed with seven digs on the night, as Cori Aafedt had six. Slofkiss and Lily Austin each recorded four digs against Air Force.

Freshman Reed Copeland once again led Wyoming’s defense, as she recorded nine total blocks against Air Force, and also added four kills. Emily Hines and Henderson each had four blocks for the Cowgirls, while Bridget Shanahan had three.

Henderson had three of her kills in the first set, as Slofkiss, Beach and Shanahan each added two of their own. Shanahan went on to chip in four in the second frame, while Slofkiss had three. In the third and final set,

Chacon and Waldvogel each had five digs to pace Wyoming and Shanahan and Slofkiss had six kills between the two of them to seal the victory.

Cowgirl volleyball returns to the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon as New Mexico visits for a 1 p.m. MT first serve.

UW Swimmers Open Season Saturday at Denver Relays

Will compete in event for ninth-consecutive year

LARAMIE – The Wyoming swimming teams will officially open the season this weekend at the Denver University Relays. The swimmers open action in the El Pomar Natatorium on Saturday in Denver, Colo., at noon.

“This meet is another good assessment point,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “It helps us shake out our lineup to make some decisions on a few meets coming up. I’m glad we were able to get a lot out of our meet in Cheyenne, but looking ahead this weekend will also help us continue to see where we are at with our training.”

Last Friday, UW hosted the Brown and Gold Meet at South High School in Cheyenne. The Brown team defeated the Gold team 302.5-292.5. Some of the highlighted events from the men’s team came from sophomore Ryan Ball, as he won two events for the Gold Team.

Ball won the 200 freestyle with a mark of 1:43.24 and the 200 backstroke with a 1:52.24. Gabe Rooker also won two events for the Gold Team. He claimed the 100 and 200 breaststroke at 56.33 and 2:05.19, respectively.

Molly Coonce, also of the Gold Team won two events as well. She took the top time in the 100 butterfly with a final time of 56.64 and the 100 breaststroke with 1:05.84.

Eric Oleson won the 1,000 freestyle for the on the men’s side at 9:56.70. Emily Ridout won both the 50 and 100 freestyle with 23.45 and 52.51, respectively, while Abby Sullivan (2:05.88) won the 200 backstroke.

For the Brown Squad, George Eglesfield won the 200 butterfly with a mark of 1:51.77 and was also on the winning 200 medley relay team with Wade Nelson, Kyle Scalise and Kyle White. With a time of 10:38.06, Nicole Hlavacek brought home the 1,000 freestyle for the Brown Team.

Wade Nelson was the top performer in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.09, as White won the 100 freestyle at 47.03. Emma Dow came away with the 200 breaststroke on the women’s side with a final time of 2:27.13.

 The Gold squad won three of the four diving events on the night. Kari Campbell (277.12) won the 1-meter dive and Austin Rettinghouse of the Gold squad, won both the 1 and 3-meter dives on the men’s side.

Rettinghouse marked a 305.70 on the 1-meter and a 234 on the 3-meter. Keely Bishop took home the 3-meter dive for the Brown team with a mark of 205.5.