Cowgirls Never Say Die, Rally to Beat Boise State in Five

* University of Wyoming press release

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team staged a stunning rally Saturday night inside the Arena-Auditorium, coming back to defeat Boise State in five thrilling sets.

Set scores went 25-21, 22-25, 11-25, 25-23 and 15-12.

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The Cowgirls (10-6, 2-4 MW) looked strong out of the gates, much like they did Tuesday night at Colorado State. UW controlled the opening set in Saturday’s contest and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match. However, Boise State would answer by putting together a late surge in the second set to tie the match at one set apiece. The Broncos (11-6, 3-2 MW) closed the second outscoring the Cowgirls 8-5.

In the third, Wyoming looked to be in massive trouble in the match, as Boise dominated the third set, 25-11 to take a two sets to one lead. UW would not go quietly though and battled its way to a fourth set victory to force winner-take-all fifth. The fourth set featured 11 ties and four lead changes.

The Broncos jumped out to an early lead in the fifth, and were up by as many as three, twice in the set, the last coming at 10-7.

The resilient Cowgirls would once again show their mettle, tying the frame at 10-10. After BSU claimed a 12-11 advantage, Wyoming scored four consecutive points when it mattered most to escape with the win. The Cowgirls forced the Broncos into three straight attack errors to end the match.

Paige Lauterwasser recorded a match-high 19 kills in the victory and tallied a career-best 63 attacks. Sarah Holcomb was the only other Cowgirl in double digit kills as she had 10. Holcomb also led the way with seven total blocks on the night.

A trio of Cowgirls, Kasia Partyka, Sonte Stewart and Emma Winter had seven kills each. Partyka, recorded 43 assists in the victory and also recorded her third consecutive double-double as she tallied 15 digs. At the net, Kayla Mazzocca also had seven blocks against Boise State.

In the back row, Macey Boggs and Skylar Erickson had 12 digs each. The 12 digs are a new career-high for Boggs. Lauterwasser had 14 digs of her own while Sierra Grizzle led the match with a career-best 35 digs. It’s the second time this season that Grizzle has had 30-plus digs.

As a team, neither lit it up offensively as Boise State hit .174 to Wyoming’s .124. The Cowgirls had a slight edge in team blocks (14-13) while the Broncos had 106 digs to UW’s 105. The biggest key to the game was Wyoming’s three service aces to Boise’s one. The Broncos entered the week leading the league and ranking second in the nation averaging 2.47 aces per set.

Next up, Wyoming hits the road for a three-match road swing beginning Thursday night at UNLV. First serve is set for 7:30.

Grizzle Named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week

For the third time this season, Wyoming volleyball’s Sierra Grizzle was named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week announced Monday by the league office.

Grizzle, who was also named the best weekly defensive player in the league the first two weeks of the season (September 2 and 9), averaged 6.11 digs per set last week against Colorado State and Boise State. Grizzle began the week with a 20-dig performance at CSU. She then followed that up with a career-high 35 digs in Wyoming’s come-from-behind win over Boise State.

Saturday’s win marked the second time this season that Grizzle has gone for 30-plus digs.

The last time a Cowgirl was named player of the week three times-or-more was Madi Fields in 2019. Fields was named the league’s defensive player of the week four times that season on her way to All-Mountain West accolades. Grizzle and the rest of the Cowgirls begin a three-match road trip Thursday at UNLV at 7:30 p.m., Mountain Time.

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players