Cowgirls Stuff Rams For Border War Victory

Behind 10 kills and nine blocks from Jackie McBride, the Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team won the first Border War over rival Colorado State 3-sets-to-1.

Wyoming won the match by scores of 25-19, 18-25, 25-14, and 25-18. The Cowgirls hit .284 as a team, had 13.5 team blocks, and 52 digs defensively. They improved to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West.

UW also took full advantage of 30 attack errors and 10 service errors by Colorado State.

Wyoming head coach Chad Callihan was pleased that his team was able to put a rough weekend on the road that featured losses at Fresno State and San Diego State, quickly behind them, and play closer to a level he feels they are capable of.

The Cowgirls took their first lead at 13-12 in the first set and never looked back. They closed out the set on a 7-1 run. McBride was key with six kills and two blocks in that first set. She said she wanted to be the one that got them off to a fast start.

After the Rams pulled away to take set two, Wyoming roared back with dominant set three. UW went on a 14-4 run in the middle and rolled to an 11-point set victory. The Cowgirls capitalized on eight hitting errors and four service errors by Colorado State. Their side out percentage was at 78 percent versus the Rams 43 percent.

In set four, Wyoming jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back. CSU did pull within 15-13, but an error by the Rams followed by two service aces by Marissa Hines put UW ahead 18-13. They went on to the out-score Colorado State 10-5 and won the match.

In addition to McBride, Faith Waitsman stepped up with nine kills, which include four in the final set. Reed Copeland and Tara Traphagan added seven kills apiece. Madi Fields led the defense with 18 digs, while Halie McArdle added 12 digs.

Fields said they got a sense their defense rattled the Rams a bit.

Wyoming returns to action Thursday against an improved Air Force Falcons squad, that is 2-1 in conference play. The match starts at 6:30 p.m.