Laramie, Wyo. (Oct. 13, 2007) -- The Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team (8-9 overall, 2-5 in the MWC) fell in three games (27-30, 20-30, 28-30) against Colorado State Rams (13-4, 7-1 in the MWC) on Saturday night in Laramie.
“We had plenty of opportunities in this match to extend it and we didn’t take advantage of that,” said head coach Pat Stangle. “We need to make plays early in the match so in the end maybe things will go our way.”
Two Cowgirls finished the night with double-figures led by seniors Rachel Smith and Angie Hellbaum. They each recorded ten kills and eight digs each. Lauren Whitney followed with seven kills while Carissa Lee had a team high ten digs. Wyoming hit .140 (40-23-121) and had four total team blocks.
Jamie Strauss led the way with 14 kills and seven digs for the Rams, while Tonya Mokelki added nine kills. Katelin Batten recorded 16 digs, while Ashley Fornstrom had 41 assists and ten digs. Colorado State hit .217 (49-23-120) for the match.
Wyoming started off on a good note by taking a 7-4 lead in game one, but the Rams went on a 6-1 run to go up 10-8. The Cowgirls scored six of the next ten points to even it up at 14. CSU would answer with the next point and then Wyoming went on a 4-1 run to go up 18-16. Colorado State evened it up at 18 and then the teams traded points back and forth. With it all knotted up at 26, the Rams scored the next four of five to win the game 30-27.
In game two, the Cowgirls took a 6-2 lead, which was erased by a 5-2 CSU run to tie it up at seven all. The Rams would gain a 17-13 after going on a 10-6 run. Wyoming would pull within two, 19-17, but that would be as close as it would get. Colorado State only allowed the Cowgirls to score three more points as they won game two, 30-20, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
CSU would score the first two points of game three, but the Cowgirls scored eight of twelve points to go up 8-6. The Rams tied it up and then the scoring went back and forth. Wyoming seemed to gain some momentum with a 6-1 run to go up four, 16-12. Colorado State answered with a 9-4 run of their own to go up one, 21-20. Over the next several points the teams went back and forth until Wyoming went up 28-27. Unfortunately, CSU scored the final three points to win the game 30-28 and the match 3-0.
The Cowgirls will continue play at home on Thursday, Oct. 18, as they host the New Mexico Lobos. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. in the UniWyo Sports Complex.
Laramie, Wyo. (Oct. 18, 2007) -- The Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team (9-9 overall, 3-6 in the MWC) had an impressive three game win (30-28, 30-23, 30-19) against New Mexico Lobos (14-7 overall, 5-4 in the MWC in the MWC) on Thursday night in Laramie.
“If you look at the numbers it wasn’t a real pretty match,” said head coach Pat Stangle. ”New Mexico is a very good offensive and defensive team, plus very scrappy and it wasn’t easy for us. That’s what makes the win so special, because it was so hard fought. They came out at the beginning of the match as the aggressor and we had to get up and battle back. I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss.”
The Cowgirls were led by senior Rachel Smith, who recorded a team high 12 kills along with seven digs and two service aces. Freshman Lauren Whitney followed with 11 kills, while Angie Hellbaum added eight. Wyoming hit .139 (40-23-122) for the match and had eight total team blocks.
New Mexico was led by Jeanne Fairchild with 13 kills, while two players followed with five kills each. The Lobos hit .051 (37-31-117) for the match.
In game one, the Cowgirls opened up a 4-1 lead which was answered with three straight by the Lobos to tie it up at four all. Wyoming went on a 4-1 run to go back up, 8-5, but UNM scored four of five to take a one point advantage, 9-8. The Cowgirls went on a small run to even it up at 12 all. The two teams went back and forth for the next few points until the Lobos scored six straight to open up a 20-14 lead. Wyoming battled back by scoring nine of thirteen to pull within one, 24-23. The momentum shifted back to New Mexico as they went back up 26-23. Wyoming kept their composure and scored the final seven of nine to win the game 30-28.
The Cowgirls took control early in game two, 6-2, but the Lobos answered with a 5-2 scoring run to pull within one, 8-7. After Wyoming scored the next point, the Lobos responded with the next three to make it 10-9 in their favor. The Cowgirls tied it up at ten all and then the scoring went back and forth. With it all even at 14, UW scored five straight to take a 19-14 advantage which they increased to seven, 23-16. UNM came back to pull within four, 23-19, but Wyoming closed out the game on a 7-4 run to take the game 30-23 and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Game three had Wyoming open up with another 6-2 lead. UNM scored the next two points followed by a 5-2 Cowgirl run to make it 11-6. They extended their lead to double-figures, 21-8, before the Lobos scored their next point. New Mexico would then go on a 7-2 run to put a dent in the Cowgirl lead 23-16. Wyoming held their composure and closed out the game scoring seven of ten to win 30-19 and the 3-0 in the match.
The Cowgirls will close out the week tomorrow, Friday, October 19, as they host the TCU Horned Frogs. The match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.
