Over the weekend the Wyoming Cowgirls volleyball team went (2-1) in the Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic and ended non-conference play. Wyoming went up against UC Davis, Hampton, and Northern Colorado.
Wyoming began the weekend beating the UC Davis Aggies in sets of (26-24, 25-16, 23-25, 25-10). Wyoming won the first two sets, lost the third one, but was able to close out the match with a fourth set win. Senior Erin Kirby had six blocks during the match and made UW history in the process. Kirby became Wyoming’s all-time leader in blocks during the match.
Head coach Chad Callihan said of Kirby becoming Wyoming’s new leader in blocks, “Congratulations to Erin Kirby. She did a fantastic job tonight and throughout her career.”
Other players who played well during the match were Junior Kayla Henderson and Sophomore Laura Beach who had 19 points and 24 kills between the two of them.
In the next match of the weekend the Cowgirls went up against the Hampton Pirates who they beat in sweeping sets of (25-18, 25-16, 25-16). Junior Bridget Shanahan led the Cowgirls in points with 19.5 and kills with 19. Those 19 kills ended up being a career high for her in a match.
The Cowgirls ended the weekend losing their match against the Northern Colorado Bears in sets of (25-20, 17-25, 22-25, 21-25). Wyoming won the first of the four sets, but then lost the next three.
“Northern Colorado played a great match this evening. We managed the match well in the first set and then the wheels fell off. We have to find a way to grind out points even when we aren’t playing our best,” said Callihan of the match.
Wyoming had five players come up in double figures in points during the match, but there were three players that didn’t turn up a point.
The first showed the Cowgirls going on 4-1 and 4-2 point runs. Wyoming was even leading in the second set 8-5, but an 11-2 run by UNC quickly got rid of that lead. UNC was able to close out the next two sets. When Wyoming would get close to the lead the bears were able to go on big point runs to close out each sets.
Bridget Shanahan and Kayla Henderson both were named to the all-tournament team. Shanahan averaged 3.91 kills per match and had a .350 hitting percentage. Henderson averaged 2.36 kills per match.
The Wyoming Cowgirls will begin Mountain West Conference play this week. The Cowgirls are currently second in the Mountain West standings only behind Colorado State. They will play Thursday against Boise State and then on Saturday against Utah State, with both matches being on the road.
