by staff–14 Oct ’16
The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team stretched its home winning streak to seven with a 3-2 (25-19, 25-19, 24-26, 27-29, 15-13) victory over San Diego State on Thursday evening in the UniWyo Sports Complex.
“I felt like we were in pretty good control of the match going into intermission,” UW head coach Chad Callihan said. “San Diego State started making some plays and I didn’t think we really executed that well in the third and fourth set. That helped them gain some confidence, but we have to give our team credit for playing tough in the fifth set. We had some young players out there, and it was a good opportunity for them to grow. Overall, I thought we did play pretty well with a couple of the younger players that stepped up and made key plays for us throughout the match.”
A career-high night from sophomore Reed Copeland paced the Cowgirls during the five-set match for what was her first double-double. Copeland recorded a career-best 19 kills, and also tied her career-high with 13 total blocks for Wyoming. San Diego State’s two sets won were the first two sets UW has lost at home all season, and it was just the second five-set match of the year for Wyoming.
Senior setter Courtney Chacon joined Copeland with a double-double against the Aztecs. It was her team-leading fifth double-double of her senior season. Chacon dished out a season and match-high 45 assists for UW, to go along with 10 digs. She also tied her season-high of four kills on the evening. Freshman defensive specialist Madi Fields posted a career-high 19 digs against San Diego State and also led both squads with two service aces.
Seniors Kayla Slofkiss and Laura Beach chipped in 11 and ten kills, respectively. Slofkiss also added eight digs and six total blocks, while Beach had three blocks for the Brown and Gold. SophomoreMattison DeGarmo and freshman Tara Traphagan each recorded seven kills for the Cowgirls. It was a career-high for Traphagan, as DeGarmo also posted six digs and four total blocks.
San Diego State never held a lead in the first or second set on Thursday night. Slofkiss, Copeland and DeGarmo each recorded three kills for UW in the opening set, as Chacon had her first ten assists. Wyoming rallied early in the second stanza by jumping out to a 6-2 lead and never looked back. Late in the set, UW was up nine, 24-15, before the Aztecs gathered four-straight points. An attacking error from SDSU sealed the set victory and a 2-0 lead for the Cowgirls heading into intermission.
San Diego State’s largest lead in the third set was four, 13-9, and despite the Aztecs recording ten more kills than UW during the set, SDSU cut UW’s lead in half after claiming the win in extras, 26-24. Copeland fired home seven kills in the third frame, as Chacon had 13 assists. Slofkiss added three kills and four digs during that third set, just before UW jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the final set. Copeland added three more kills in the last frame to help keep Wyoming’s perfect home record alive. The Cowgirls took the fifth set, 15-13 in front of the 602 fans.
Next up, UW once again has a quick turnaround, remaining at home for its Saturday contest with Nevada. First serve for the Dig for the Cure match is set to begin at 1 p.m. MT.
