by staff–13 May ’16
Wyoming volleyball head coach Chad Callihan, who will be entering his fourth season at UW, announced the Cowgirls 2016 schedule on Thursday. Wyoming will follow its fourth-consecutive season of at least 20 wins with a total of 31 matches for the upcoming campaign. The Cowgirls will compete against six teams that had 20 or more wins a year ago, and five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, two of which made it to the Sweet 16.
Wyoming will play 13 matches at home in the UniWyo Sports Complex this fall, including nine Mountain West matches. Additionally, the Cowgirls will host the annual UniWyo Invite on September 9-10.
UW will open the schedule at the Purdue Mortar Board Tournament hosted by Purdue University. UW will kick off the tournament against two Big Ten foes that made last season’s NCAA tournament. It will take on the Boilermakers on August 26, before facing Kentucky later in the evening. It marks the first meeting between the Cowgirls and Boilermakers since 1998, and the first against Kentucky since 1990. On August 27, the Cowgirls will face Pac-12 member Washington State to close out the tournament.
After its home opener against North Dakota State on August 29, UW will travel to the Ohio State University Tournament. In Columbus, Wyoming will face off against two NCAA Regional teams in Ohio State and BYU, in addition to Long Island University – Brooklyn. In the 2015 volleyball championship, the Buckeyes fell to then-No. 1 Washington in five sets, while the Cougars lost to eventual champion Nebraska. It will not only be the first-ever matchup with LIU-Brooklyn, but the first with old rival BYU since 2010.
Presented by the UniWyo Federal Credit Union, the UniWyo Invite will take place September 9-10 in Laramie. The Cowgirls will welcome Cal State-Northridge, Samford and Eastern Washington before traveling to the Gem State for the University of Idaho Tournament to close out its non-conference slate. UW will see Idaho, Oregon State and Tennessee Tech in Moscow on September 16 and 17.
The Cowgirls will have 18 matches in MW play, including the Mike English match against Fresno State on September 24, Border War against Colorado State on October 25, and senior night against Boise State on November 18.
UW will open MW competition at home by welcoming San Jose State and Fresno State on September 22 and 24, respectively. The Cowgirls will kick off a four-match home stand with CSU before they compete against Utah State (Oct. 27), New Mexico (Nov. 3) and UNLV (Nov. 5). Its lone matchup with Boise State will take place in Laramie on November 18, before closing out conference play at CSU on November 22.
The Cowgirls finished the 2015 campaign with a 23-7 record and a 13-5 mark in conference. UW’s winning percentage (.774) was second best in Wyoming history, behind the 1989 season (24-7, .774), as the 13 conference wins were a program best.
