The Wyoming Cowgirls volleyball team finish off their three game road trip with a win against Fresno State. They swept the Bulldogs in sets of (25-21, 25-22, 25-17). They went 2-1 on this road trip, and the Cowgirls improved their overall record to 20-6 and 9-4 in the Mountain West. This is head coach Chad Callihan’s second 20-win season.
Junior Bridget Shanahan had 10 kills during the match and had a hitting percentage of .360. Wyoming overall had a hitting percentage .232, which was almost double of what Fresno State was having .124.
Head coach Chad Callihan said after the match, “We talked before the match about not executing as well on the road. If that’s the case then we have to up our defensive intensity and find other ways to create points. I thought we did that well today.”
Fresno State started to match with a 3-0 lead that the Cowgirls answered with five straight points to take a two point lead. The Bulldogs were able to tie it up at 5-5 that went back and forth until the score was 9-9. The Cowgirls went on a 7-1 run that started with an attack error by Fresno State, which was able to bring the score within three. Wyoming was able to pull away in the end with a 25-21 first set win.
The second set began again with Fresno State taking an early lead at 2-0. Wyoming was able to tie it up quick at 2-2, but then a 4-1 run by Fresno State gave them a three point lead. The Cowgirls responded with a 6-3 to that, which was sparked by a kill by Sophomore Laura Beach that tied things up at 9-9. Wyoming took the momentum and ran with it take 15-12 lead in the set. A kill from the Bulldogs sparked a 10-3 run for them and they found themselves with 22-18 lead. Wyoming scored the final seven points to take the second match from Fresno State. Senior Erin Kirby led the Cowgirls in points with 4.5, and in kills with three during this set.
The final set began with two teams going back and forth until the score was 6-6. A Beach kill started another run for the Cowgirls where they had an 11-6 lead. The Bulldogs were able to bring it within three, but Wyoming went on another run to take a 17-12 lead. The Bulldogs could not tie it up in the set again and Wyoming won the set 25-17. Wyoming also won the match 3-0. Wyoming was able to hold the Bulldogs to .021 hit percentage, compared to .278 that the Cowgirls had.
