Irvine, California (August 31, 2007) -- The Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team (3-1 overall) opened up the 2007 UC Irvine-Nike Invitational with a heartbreaking five game loss (30-25, 30-18, 27-30, 24-30, 13-15) against the Portland Pilots (3-1 overall) early in the day but rebounded with a four game victory (30-25, 29-31, 32-30, 30-23) over the Toledo Rockets on Friday in Irvine, Calif.

In the match against Portland, Wyoming had three players with double-figures in kills including senior Angie Hellbaum. She finished with a team high 19 kills and a .294 (19-9-34) hitting percentage, along with eight digs and two block assists. Rachel Smith and Lauren Whitney followed with 16 each, which was a career high for Whitney. Libero Samantha Eley had a season high 24 digs. The Cowgirls hit .214 (63-29-159) and recorded 15 service aces for the match.

Portland was led by Jessica Clemens with a team high 16 kills and three service aces. She was followed by Maria Clemens with 13, Ashley Grayson and K.C. Fox with 12 and 11 respectively. Three players finished the match with double-figures in digs led by Danielle Dupar with 16. The Pilots hit .267 (63-24-146) and out blocked the Cowgirls 13-4.

“It was a tough battle in this match against Portland,” said head coach Pat Stangle. ‘We had our chances in the fifth game as we got up 9-6, but didn’t make the plays down the stretch when we needed to.”

In the second match of the day against the Toledo Rockets, the Cowgirls were led by senior outside hitter Rachel Smith. She recorded a match high 21 digs, while hitting .196 (21-10-56). Angie Hellbaum followed with 18 kills, seven digs and three block assists. Libero Carissa Lee finished with a team high 19 digs. Wyoming hit .211 (58-24-161) for the match and had nine total team blocks.

Toledo had three players in double-digits led by Shannon Strachan. She had 17 kills, seven digs and seven block assists. TaNeisha Winters recorded 15 kills and Margot Joniec had 14. Winters also finished with 12 digs as did Courtney Nissen. The Rockets hit .128 (58-37-164) for the match and had 12 total team blocks.

‘We played a lot of people in this match,” said head coach Pat Stangle. “It was a tough match and we really had to grind it out. I really liked how we played more aggressively and closed things out at the end.

The Cowgirls will close out the tournament tomorrow night against the UC Irvine Anteaters beginning at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

Portland Results Toledo Results

(Sept. 1, 2007) -- The Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team (3-2 overall) closed out the UC Irvine Nike Invitational on Saturday night with a disappointing five game loss (31-29, 27-30, 30-23. 25-30, 8-15) against the UC Irvine Anteaters on Saturday night in Irvine, Calif. Senior Angie Hellbaum was honored for her efforts over the weekend by making the All-Tournament Team.

“We were up two games to one but really didn’t play that well in the fifth game,” said head coach Pat Stangle. “I’m proud of the team because we really competed but just couldn’t finish things out. UC Irvine is a really tough team to play especially at home. Overall, we are making progress and getting better, we just have some things to work on next week.

Wyoming was led by Rachel Smith who finished with a team high 17 kills, while hitting .190 (17-6-58) for the match. Angie Hellbaum and Lauren Whitney each followed with 14 kills and middle blocker Lauren Scott had eight. Carissa Lee led the way with 13 digs while Hellbaum and Tasha Weishahn both finished with 12 digs a piece. Wyoming hit .186 (60-28-172) and had nine total team blocks for the night.

The Anteaters were led by Kari Pestolesi who recorded a match high 23 kills along with 11 digs and a .333 (23-7-48) hitting percentage. She was followed by Lauren Kellerman with 19 kills and 16 digs, along with Alexandra Filkins with ten kills and a .474 (10-1-19) hitting percentage. Devon Sutherland recorded a match high 22 digs while adding five service aces. UC Irvine hit .296 (80-27-179) and recorded 19 total team blocks.

In game one, UC Irvine took an early 9-5 lead, which was answered by a small run by the Cowgirls to pull within two, 10-8. The Anteaters responded by scoring eight of the next 13 to extend the lead back five, 18-13. UC Irvine continued to maintain their lead but with the score 24-22 in favor of the Anteaters, Wyoming stormed back to pull within one 28-27. The Anteaters would eventually earn game point at 29-27, but the Cowgirls maintained their composure and scored the next four straight points to pull out a 31-29 win.

The two teams played pretty evenly to start the second game until UC Irvine took a three point lead 11-8. The Cowgirls tied it up at 11 all, but the Anteaters scored five unanswered to go up 16-11. They would continue to maintain their lead the remainder of the game as Wyoming was only able to pull with two, 28-26, and UC Irvine took game two, 30-27.

The Cowgirls stormed back in game three as they jumped out to a 7-1 lead. They would increase that lead to nine, 16-7, with a 9-6 scoring run. Wyoming continued to maintain a seven to eight point advantage gaining a double-figure lead at 21-12. Despite being outscored 11-9 the remainder of the way, the Cowgirls took the game 30-23 and a 2-1 lead in the match.

UC Irvine responded by taking a 7-2 advantage right out of the gate in game four. The Cowgirls battled back with a 9-4 run to pull even at 11. After the UC Irvine scored the next point, Wyoming answered with a five of the next eight to take a 17-15 lead. UCI answered with a 5-2 run of there own to make it 19 all. From that point the momentum seemed to shift over to the Anteaters as they scored the final 11 of 17 to win the game 30-25 to force a fifth game.

Unfortunately for the Cowgirls, the Anteaters momentum from the previous game carried over to game five. They took the lead from the beginning and never looked back. The closest Wyoming was able to get was 4-3 as UC Irvine won the game 15-8 and the match 3-2.

Wyoming will resume play next weekend, Friday-Saturday, Sept. 7-8, at the Jayhawk Invitational. They will take on Kansas, Morehead State and Saint Peter’s (NJ).

Results