RENO, NEV. – The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team fell short in three sets (16-25, 23-25, 12-25) to Nevada on Thursday night.
“We tried to compete throughout the match but were unable to get anything going,” UW head coach Chad Callihan said. “We were going up against a team that just played better than us tonight.”
Senior Laura Beach paced Wyoming (17-10, 10-4 MW) with nine kills while sophomore Emily Lewis added five. Beach also had three digs and two blocks against the Wolf Pack (17-9, 9-5 MW).
Senior Courtney Chacon directed the offensive attack to record a team-high 26 assists. She also had six digs and two total blocks for the Brown and Gold. It was Chacon’s 21st match of the season with at least 25 assists.
Sophomore Reed Copeland and both freshmen Tara Traphagan and Halie McArdle each had four kills for UW. Copeland added a team-high four total blocks while McArdle posted three digs. Three of the four kills from McArdle came in the final set.
Senior Kayla Slofkiss chipped in three kills for Wyoming, in addition to a team-best ten digs. Junior Shelby Johnson recorded eight digs for UW as freshman Madi Fields and junior Lily Austin had six and five, respectively.
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Set breakdown
Set one: The opening set was back and forth to begin with. Wyoming called a timeout after the Wolf Pack were able to break away and hold a 15-11 lead. Out of the first timeout, Nevada went on a 5-1 run and a balanced attack ultimately gave Nevada the set, 25-15. Lewis recorded four of UW’s first five kills to pace the Brown and Gold and ultimately had five kills for the set. Chacon dished out her first eight assists during the opening frame.
Set two: Slofkiss recorded her first kill of the night to start the second set. The Wolf Pack held a lead of 9-6 before the Cowgirls fought back to tie it at nine. Nevada called its first timeout with UW up 11-9. They then posted four of the next five points to take a 13-12 lead. Slofkiss tied things at 13 with a kill, before the Pack made a run. UW was able to tie the second set score at 23 immediately after a Nevada timeout, but the Wolf Pack then claimed the final two points for a 2-0 advantage into intermission.
S3: The Nevada momentum continued well into the third and final set. The Wolf Pack were able to cruise to a 14-3 lead before UW called timeout. The Cowgirls received three-straight points thanks in part to two kills from McArdle and an error, but Nevada followed with a 7-5 run to close out the match. McArdle had three of her four kills to pace UW in the final set as Chacon had her final eight assists.
Wyoming will travel to San Diego State for its next match. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT on Saturday night.
Notes
-Kayla Slofkiss’ ten digs tonight moves her past Courtney Chacon for 11th all-time with 910. Anna Parmely (1995-98) holds the tenth spot with 914 career digs. It was the tenth match of the year for Slofkiss with double-digit digs.
-Laura Beach is still sixth all-time with 415 total blocks. Katie Donahue (1984-88) is fifth all-time with 419 blocks. Beach is now 56 kills away from 1,000 for her career.
-Courtney Chacon remains in sixth place in Cowgirl history with 3,204 career assists. As mentioned above, she is 12th all-time with 907 career digs. She also moved past former teammate Bridget Shanahan for sixth all-time with 425 sets played.
-The Cowgirls finished tonight’s match with 30 total kills. Only twice this season Wyoming has recorded less than 30 kills during a match. UW recorded 27 against Kentucky on Aug. 26 and had 25 kills against Ohio State on Sept. 7.
-UW’s 30 assists tonight is the lowest it has recorded since the beginning of MW play. The Cowgirls swept San Jose State at home while recording 24 assists.
