After the Cowboy football team dominated the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors from kickoff to the final whistle, the Cowgirl volleyball team followed in their footsteps with a commanding win against the New Mexico Lobos in their final regular season outing. The Cowgirls came out hungry on senior night and absolutely delivered. The Cowgirls end their season 20-9 overall with a 9-9 mark in conference play.
The first set was one full of runs by the Cowgirls, as they opened their scoring run with 5 straight to open the game with a 5-2 lead over the Lobos. The Lobos wouldn’t go away after that initial run, though, as they’d take a one point 15-14 lead midway through the set before the Cowgirls would go on a huge 8-0 run to extend themselves up to 22-15 over the Lobos. The Cowgirls would only give up one more point as they’d romp their way to a 25-16 win in the first set.
The second set was all Lobos in the early goings, as they’d take an early 7-3 lead over the Cowgirls. The Cowgirls would battle, but found themselves trailing throughout most of the set until they were able to propel themselves over the Lobos 24-23. The set continued past 25 until the Cowgirls were able to win by a narrow margin of 27-25.
The third set was another back and forth battle between the Cowgirls and the Lobos, as neither team could pull away from one another. Both teams came out swinging and were taking shots at one another, but neither could gain the momentum until the Cowgirls would open up a 5-0 run from down 15-16 to take a 20-16 lead over the Lobos. The run would break the backs of the Lobos as even a point from the Cowgirls called back to the Lobos wouldn’t save the Lobos as the Cowgirls would take the set 25-19.
The Cowgirls were effective offensively, recording 52 kills compared to the Lobos’ 32. The Cowgirls also held the Lobos to a .109 hitting percentage while recording a .289 hitting percentage themselves. The Cowgirls also held an advantage at the net, recording 12 blocks compared to the Lobos’ 7.
The Cowgirls were led by Rylee Schulz and Tierney Barlow offensively, as the had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Kasia Partyka had an extremely well rounded game, with 42 assists, 7 kills, 10 digs and 5 blocks. Sierra Grizzle led the Cowgirls in digs as well with 11.
The Cowgirls unfortunately just miss out on a Mountain West tournament berth, so their season is over.
