Cowgirls Host Fresno State Tonight inside UniWyo Sports Complex
* University of Wyoming press release
LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team hosts its first home Mountain West match of the season Thursday night as the Cowgirls welcome Fresno State to the UniWyo Sports Complex for a 6:30 p.m., contest.
Wyoming (9-4, 1-1 MW) is coming off a weekend split on the road last week to open Mountain West play. The Cowgirls played a pair of five-set matches to open league action.
UW lost a hard-fought contest at Nevada Thursday night before rallying to defeat Utah State Saturday in Logan.
Last week, Sarah Holcomb averaged 2.10 blocks per set in the two matches and is now up to averaging 1.42 per set, which leads the league and ranks 14th in the nation. Holcomb’s 74 total blocks in 2024 are ninth-best in the country. Kayla Mazzocca has also been stellar in the middle this season, as her 1.37 blocks per set are 27th nationally while her 71 blocks are the 12th-most. As a team, Wyoming’s 150 blocks rank sixth in the country.
UW enters Thursday ranking in the top half of the Mountain West in most statistical categories. The Cowgirls are second in the conference in aces per set (1.56), blocks per set (2.88) and opponent hitting percentage (.162). Individually, Kasia Partyka ranks third in the MW averaging 9.77 assists per set. Hitting wise, Paige Lauterwasser’s 3.29 kills and 3.65 points per set ranks seventh and ninth, respectively in the league.
Fresno State is 1-2 in true road matches this season and opened league play last week with a split at home. The Bulldogs' Dionii Fraga is the reigning MW Defensive Player of the Week, who is averaging a league-high 4.15 digs per set in 2024. All-Mountain West performer Ella Rud ranks third in the conference in both kills (4.13) and points per set (4.69). Brooke Cowie's 9.98 assists per set ranks second in the Mountain West.
The Bulldogs are the defending Mountain West Tournament champions.