By Staff
LARAMIE, Wyo. – The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team opened MW play with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-19) victory over Boise State Thursday in the UniWyo Sports Complex. Senior Kayla Henderson and junior Laura Beach each recorded season-highs in blocks for UW against the MW leaders in hitting percentage. Beach recorded eight blocks on the evening, as Henderson had seven.
Offensively, the Cowgirls (11-2 overall, 1-0 MW) were led by senior Bridget Shanahan with a team-high nine kills, while Beach chipped in eight. Henderson and junior Kayla Slofkiss each added seven kills for UW. Slofkiss also recorded nine digs for UW. Not only did Beach have a stellar defensive night, she also hit a season-high .667 (8-0-12) against the Broncos.
Junior Courtney Chacon and freshman Cori Aafedt ran the offensive attack for Wyoming. They each had 16 assists, as Chacon added seven digs and Aafedt contributed with four. Senior Allison Waldvogel again led the team in digs with 18. Every match this season, Waldvogel has either tied for the team lead or led Wyoming in digs. Chacon now needs eight assists to become the ninth Cowgirl with 2,000 assists in their career.
Redshirt freshman Emily Hines added four kills for Wyoming and also two blocks. Freshman Reed Copeland had five blocks tonight, to go along with two kills. Sophomore Lily Austin also recorded nine digs for the Cowgirls.
UW set the tone in the first set and was paced by six of Shanahan’s kills and five digs from Waldvogel. Beach recorded six blocks to move the Broncos hitting percentage to -.075 (11-14-40) in the second set. Boise State came into tonight’s match leading the MW with a .302 (615-185-1424) hitting percentage. The Broncos hit .031 (37-33-131) against the Cowgirls compared to .261 (37-13-92) for Wyoming. In the final frame, Beach had four kills, as Waldvogel recorded ten digs for UW to seal the victory.
Wyoming will return to the UniWyo Sports Complex Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. MT match against Utah State.
