Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sept. 11, 2007) --The Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team (6-3 overall, 1-0 in the MWC) opened up the 2007 Mountain West Conference season with a decisive three game win (30-17, 30-25, 30-24) over the Air Force Academy Falcons (5-5 overall, 0-1 in the MWC), on Tuesday night, in Colorado Springs.
“We played extremely well against a much improved Air Force team,” said head coach Pat Stangle. “The middles played well along with Tasha (Weishahn), and the numbers say it all about the play from the outside hitters. Angie and Lauren did a great job tonight.”
Wyoming was led by freshman Lauren Whitney who recorded a match high 14 kills and ten digs, while hitting .524 (14-3-21). She was followed by outside hitter Angie Hellbaum with 13 kills and seven digs while Rachel Smith added seven kills and seven digs. As a team, the Cowgirls hit .333 (50-15-105) and had two total team blocks.
Caroline Kurtz led the Falcons with nine kills and nine digs, along with a .217 (9-4-23) hitting percentage. Jasmine Pettie finished with eight kills, while Kristina Stewart and Nichole Stillwell added five. Air Force hit .140 (34-20-100) for the match but out blocked the Cowgirls 7-2.
It was all Cowgirls to start out in the first game as they jumped out to an eight point lead, 10-2. Air Force would score the next couple of points to pull within six, unfortunately for them Wyoming scored the next seven of ten to extend their advantage to double-figures, 17-7. Out of a timeout for the Falcons, Air Force reached double figures to make the score 19-10. Once again, UW went on a 5-1 run to make it a 13-point game, 24-11. It was never close as the Cowgirls earned the first game win, 30-17.
In the early going of the second game, neither team really gained a significant lead. With it all tied up at six all, the Falcons scored the next four of five points to take a three-point advantage, 10-7. The Cowgirls battled back with five straight points to regain the lead 12-10. Air Force continued to be on their heels, but then Wyoming broke away to open up a five point lead, 22-17. The two teams played even the remainder of the way as the Cowgirls took the game 30-25 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Wyoming took a very early 4-1 advantage in the third game, which was quickly evened up by the Falcons at 4-4. Neither team would gain a lead larger than one point as they went back and forth until Air Force took a 17-15 lead. The Cowgirls responded with a 7-1 scoring run to go up by four, 22-18. They extended that lead to five, 26-21, and a comeback by the Falcons fell short as Wyoming would win the game 30-24 and the match 3-0.
Wyoming will be off this upcoming weekend and will resume MWC play on Thursday, Sept. 20, against the TCU Horned Frogs. That match will begin at 6:00 p.m. MT in Ft. Worth.
Ft. Worth, Texas (Sept. 19, 2007) -- After a nine-day layoff, the Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team (6-4 overall, 1-1 in the MWC) struggled with a four game loss (30-22, 29-31, 22-30, 20-30) against the TCU Frogs (14-2, 1-1 in the MWC) on Thursday night in Ft. Worth.
“I thought we came out and really competed tonight,” said head coach Pat Stangle. “They are a very physical team and we really had the opportunity to come away with a win. We need to regroup and get after New Mexico tomorrow night.”
Wyoming was led by senior Rachel Smith who recorded 17 kills along with eight digs. Angie Hellbaum followed with 16 kills, along with 12 digs and three blocks, while Lauren Scott added nine kills and six blocks. Libero Carissa Lee finished her night with 22 digs. The Cowgirls hit .174 (56-26-172) for the match.
TCU was led by LeMeita Smith who recorded 12 digs, while hitting .286 (12-2-35), while Lauren Otto had 10 kills. Calli Corley led all players with 23 digs. The Frogs hit .180 (56-25-172) and out blocked the Cowgirls 13.5 to eight.
Wyoming started off strong in the first game as they took a 7-3 lead. After TCU pulled to within three, 8-5, the Cowgirls went on an 11-4 run to extend their advantage to double-figures, 19-9, and never looked back. Despite being out scored 13-11 the remainder of the way, the Cowgirls won game one, 30-22.
In game two, the Cowgirls once again jumped out to a 6-2 advantage. The Horned Frogs responded with an 8-1 run to take a three-point lead, 10-7. UW pulled even at 11 and then the two teams went back and forth for the next several points. With it tied up at 14 all, TCU scored six of the next nine points to go back up 20-17. They would make it a two point game, 21-19, unfortunately the Frogs extended the lead up to 25-21. TCU seemed to have control with three game points at 29-26, but the Cowgirls battled back to even it up at 29 all. In the end, the Frogs scored the final two points to take the game 30-29.
TCU took control of the third game from the start as they went up by a score of 10-3. The Cowgirls pulled to within four, 10-6, but the Frogs responded with a 10-4 run go up double-figures 20-9. Wyoming battled back and scored ten of the next thirteen to make it a 27-20. Unfortunately, the TCU was too much to overcome as they took the game 30-22 and a 2-1 lead in the match.
It was all Horned Frogs to start off the fourth game as well as they took a 7-2 lead. They would extend their advantage as they scored the next eight of thirteen to make it 15-7. The Cowgirls made a small 5-2 run to pull within five, 17-12, but TCU scored seven of twelve to make it 24-17. It was never close as the Frogs took the game, 30-20, and the match 3-1.
Wyoming will close out the week tomorrow night as they travel to Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.
