By Staff
LARAMIE, Wyo. – Courtney Chacon recorded a match-high 21 assists and Laura Beach tied her career-high in hitting percentage to guide the University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team to its seventh-straight victory at home on Thursday night. UW defeated Air Force in straight sets (25-15, 25-23, 25-21) in front of a crowd of 900 in the UniWyo Sports Complex.
With the win, Wyoming (14-3, 4-1 MW) has now defeated the Falcons (8-11, 1-3 MW) 22 of the last 23 times dating back to 2004, including four straight.
“We came out very well and played clean,” UW head volleyball coach Chad Callihan said. “Our energy was great to begin with, as we tried to keep them out of rhythm. We did have some very uncharacteristic errors at times and that allows a team to hang around and gain confidence, but we will do everything we can to make sure we don’t continue to repeat that.”
Laura Beach had six kills against Air Force to help tie her career-high in hitting percentage at .750 (6-0-8), while senior Bridget Shanahan led UW with nine kills on the evening. Kayla Slofkiss chipped in eight kills, while Kayla Henderson also added six against the Falcons.
To go along with her 21 assists, Chacon had a team-high eight digs. It proved to be Chacon’s ninth match this season with at least 20 assists. Allison Waldvogel contributed with seven digs on the night, as Cori Aafedt had six. Slofkiss and Lily Austin each recorded four digs against Air Force.
Freshman Reed Copeland once again led Wyoming’s defense, as she recorded nine total blocks against Air Force, and also added four kills. Emily Hines and Henderson each had four blocks for the Cowgirls, while Bridget Shanahan had three.
Henderson had three of her kills in the first set, as Slofkiss, Beach and Shanahan each added two of their own. Shanahan went on to chip in four in the second frame, while Slofkiss had three. In the third and final set, Chacon and Waldvogel each had five digs to pace Wyoming and Shanahan and Slofkiss had six kills between the two of them to seal the victory.
