LARAMIE – The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team split its last two nonconference matches of the 2016 season at the Idaho Volleyball Classic on Friday. After falling to Oregon State earlier in the day, the Cowgirls defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in straight sets to close out the tournament.
The Cowgirls fell short in three sets (18-25, 22-25, 19-25) to Oregon State during its first match of the day. Senior Kayla Slofkiss paced the Cowgirls with seven kills, while seniorLaura Beach, sophomore’s Reed Copeland and Emily Lewis and redshirt freshman Bayly Poor added six each.
Senior setter Courtney Chacon orchestrated the offense with 21 assists, in addition to 11 digs. It was the 30th double-double of her career, third of her senior season and second in a row. Additionally, Chacon was joined by Lewis on the All-Tournament team for this weekend’s matches.
Coming off a career-high last night, junior Lily Austin led UW with 17 digs. Slofkiss added nine, while junior Shelby Johnson recorded a career-high seven digs. Chacon tossed up a season-high three service aces, as fellow senior Slofkiss led the Cowgirls with three blocks against the Beavers.
UW came out fired up and sprinted to a 5-0 lead thanks in part to two of Slofkiss’ kills. OSU would then grab 13 points in a row to hold a 13-5 advantage in the first stanza. The Cowgirls fought back from a ten point deficit, 19-9, before the Beavers closed out the first set, 25-18. Sloffkiss and Poor had three kills each and Chacon had six assists in the opening set.
The biggest advantage by either team in the second set was four when Oregon State held leads of 10-6 and 11-7. There were 11 ties in all of the second frame with the latest being 21 all. The Beavers took the set 25-22, as Beach and Copeland smashed home four kills each. The third and final frame was even at five until Oregon State rode its momentum to grab 20 of the last 34 points to seal the win, 25-19.
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Wyoming swept Tennessee Tech in three sets (25-18, 25-13, 25-8) to close out the day. Beach paced UW with nine kills against the Golden Eagles, and also tied her career-high with ten blocks. Lewis added a career-high seven total blocks and eight kills, as Slofkiss chipped in six for the Cowgirls.
Freshman Madi Fields recorded a match and career-high 16 digs in addition to three assists. Chacon solidified her day with 29 assists against TTU. She has led the Cowgirls in assists in every match this season and helped guide eight different Cowgirls, including herself, to at least one kill against Tennessee Tech.
Two kills from Beach in the first set against the Golden Eagles opened the match, 2-0. Wyoming continued its dominance and held leads as big as seven twice in the first set. Beach, Copeland and Lewis each contributed three kills for UW to begin the match.
The momentum was constant during the second set, as Wyoming eventually won to take a 2-0 lead into intermission. Chacon had more assists with ten, than the Golden Eagles (8) had in the second frame. Wyoming cruised through the third and final set, winning by a score of 25-8. The last time UW held an opponent to eight or less points in a set that wasn’t the fifth and deciding set, was in 2014 against Fresno State.
The Cowgirls open Mountain West play on Thursday, Sept. 22, as San Jose State makes its way to the UniWyo Sports Complex. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m. MT.
