Cowgirls Edge Louisiana in Five to Remain Perfect

* University of Wyoming press release

LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Wyoming Cowgirls kept their undefeated start to the season intact Saturday in thrilling fashion, coming-from-behind for the second consecutive match and defeated Louisiana in five hard sets. Set scores went 16-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-17 and 17-15.

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The fifth set saw the Cowgirls (6-0) and Ragin’ Cajuns (3-2) go point-for-point through the first half of the set, as things were tied at 8-8. From there though, Louisiana went on a 3-0 run to force a UW timeout at 11-8. After that, Louisiana pushed the lead out to 13-10 before the Cowgirls responded with a huge three-point run to knot things at 13 all.

The Cowgirls faced a match point deficit, however at 14-13 before back-to-back points pushed them in front for a match point of their own. After the UL tied the score at 15-15, back-to-back attack errors from the Ragin’ Cajuns gave Wyoming the set win and the match.

Saturday was a battle of attrition as Wyoming hit a season-low .180 as a team while Louisiana was held to a .176 clip. Both teams tallied seven service aces in the match with the Cowgirls holding a slim 9-8 edge in total blocks in the five-setter.

Rylee Schulz led the way offensively for the Brown & Gold with a career-high 18 kills. Tierney Barlow and Sarah Holcomb added 12 kills each while hitting .314 and .423, respectively. Holly Eastridge and Corin Carruth had nine and eight kills, respectively, in the victory. Schulz also recorded her second double-double of her career as she added 10 digs.

Kasia Partyka continued her stellar start to 2023 as she paced the squad with a season-best 51 assists. It was also the second consecutive match where she recorded a double-double as she notched 14. The Cowgirls were all over the court in the back row as Skylar Erickson had a team-high 16 digs. Zoee Smith added a career-best 15 digs while Sierra Grizzle also topped her career-high from the previous night with 13.

At the net, Barlow and Partyka led the way with five total blocks. Erickson, meanwhile, led the way at the service line as she tied a career-high with three aces.

Up next, UW will travel to Portland for a tournament with three consecutive days of matches. The Cowgirls open the tournament Thursday at 7 p.m., against the host-Portland.