Cowgirls return home to host Air Force, New Mexico

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming volleyball team returns home after a four-match road trip over the past two weeks, to host Air Force Thursday evening and New Mexico Saturday. Both matches are set for 6:30 p.m. UW is coming off a pair of wins last week to finish its road swing 2-2.

The Cowgirls (10-8, 2-4 MW) rallied last Thursday to win a thrilling five-setter at San Jose State to pick up their first conference victory and then cruised to a sweep of Nevada Saturday afternoon.

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KC McMahon led the Brown & Gold offensively with an impressive pair of matches, averaging 4.25 kills per set in the two wins, while hitting .375 for the week.

Abby Olsen tallied the first two double-doubles of her career last week from her setter position. Olsen tallied career-highs with 51 assists and 15 digs at SJSU and followed that up with a 42-assist, 13-dig effort at Nevada. Olsen averaged 11.63 assists per set in the two matches, while orchestrating the Cowgirl offense to a .309 team hitting percentage against the Spartans and Wolf Pack.

Jackie McBride moved into fourth-place on the all-time career sets played list at UW over the weekend. McBride, who has appeared in 456 career sets, is now just seven sets shy of surpassing Jodi Purdy (2009-12) for third in program history. McBride also enters the weekend just 19 kills shy of 1,000 in her stellar career.

Air Force has three cadet-athletes that rank in the top-10 in the league in hitting percentage and is led by Joi Harvey's .395 percentage, a mark that ranks second-best in the conference. Taleah Cooper is ninth at .331, while Mac Russ' .311 hitting percentage is 10th. Harvey also ranks third in the league averaging 1.20 blocks per set.

The Falcons enter Thursday with a 4-12 mark overall and is 1-5 in the league, with their lone victory coming via sweep over Fresno State. AFA is looking for its first road victory of the season (0-6).

New Mexico enters the week with a 14-3 mark overall and is 5-1 in league play. The Lobos lead the league in opponent hitting percentage (.135), assists (12.54), kills (13.95) and digs (16.0). UNM also ranks second in the league with a .254 hitting percentage.

Kaitlynn Biassou and Uxue Guereca rank third and eighth, respectively in the league in kills per set. Biassou is averaing 3.75 kills per, while Guereca is at 3.12 per set. The duo also ranks third and ninth in the MW in points per set as Biassou is averaging 4.51 points per and Guereca is at 3.70.

Avital Jaloba ranks fifth in the Mountain West with a .368 hitting percentage, while Elizabeth Woods' 1.13 blocks per set is sixth-best. UNM also has a pair that rank in the top-10 in digs per set with Alena Moldan ranking second with 4.56 per and Melissa Walden is 10th averaging 2.97. Walden also ranks fourth in the league with 8.63 assists per set.

Fans in attendance for Thursday’s match against Air Force can receive a Wyoming Volleyball plastic Mason jar tumbler. The UW Junior Cheerleaders will be performing at intermission in-between the second and third sets.

Saturday’s match against UNM will be the No More match as UW Volleyball is partnering with groups on campus to bring light to domestic violence and sexual assault. There will also be a ticket promotion for fans attending both the UW football game and Saturday’s match. Fans that show their football ticket at the door can get into the volleyball match for just $5.

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