This past week the Wyoming Cowgirls volleyball team got back-to-back road wins against Air Force and then New Mexico. The Cowgirls are now 16-5 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference and currently sit in third place.
“Road wins are tough to come by in this conference and we are excited to get a victory against a very good Air Force squad,” head coach Chad Callihan said. “Hopefully we can carry the momentum with us into the New Mexico match.”
The Cowgirls road trip began in Colorado Springs where they beat the Air Force Flacons in sets of (25-23, 25-22, 25-27, 25-17). Three Cowgirls were in double digit kills with junior Bridget Shanahan leading the way with 19 kills.
Wyoming began the first set leading 5-2 but then let the Falcons come back. It was a back and forth set that ended on an attacking error by the Falcons that allowed the Cowgirls to have a 1-0 set lead. The second set was another back and forth set that had Air Force leading at one point 9-7. Wyoming would then have a couple of runs that end up with Wyoming taking a 2-0 set lead. The third set was another close set with a Wyoming 24-21 lead for match point. The Falcons would not be denied though, and ended up winning the third set. Wyoming put the Falcons away in the fourth, and final, set with a 25-17 win, and a 3-1 match win.
They were able to carry that momentum over from the Air Force win into their match against New Mexico. The Cowgirls won in four sets of (26-24, 28-26, 22-25, 25-18). Senior Erin Kirby made history in this match as she became the all-time leader in the Mountain West conference in blocks with the six that she had in the match. The first set began with the Lobos taking an early lead of 8-4.
Wyoming slowly started to come back and finally tied it up at 15. Wyoming ended up taking the first set with a 26-24 win. The second set had Wyoming up 9-4, but then the Lobos started to come back. Wyoming won the second set with a score of 28-26. In the third set, Wyoming found themselves with an 11-8 lead. Lobos made a comeback and took the third set 22-25. In the fourth set, the Lobos were winning 5-4, but an 8-3 run by Wyoming helped them win the set and eventually the match.
These two matches helped Erin Kirby earn Mountain West Volleyball Player of the Week. This is the sixth time that she has won this award in her college career. She averaged 14.5 kills in the two matches and led the team in hitting percentage against Air Force with .560.
Wyoming will have a match against the Boise State Broncos on Saturday Oct. 26 here in Laramie. The match will begin at 2 p.m. Wyoming will then head on a three game road trip where they will play UNLV, San Diego State and Fresno State.
