Cowgirls Push League-Leading Hawai’i to the Brink, Fall in 5

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirls pushed Hawaii, the Mountain West's top team, to the brink Thursday night in Laramie, but in the end, the Rainbow Wahine were able to pull off a thrilling five-set comeback victory over the Cowgirls.

UW had match point in the fifth at 14-13 but had a serving error which was followed by back-to-back Hawai’i points to close-out the match. Hawai’i entered Thursday’s contest at 6-0, with six sweeps in conference play.

Set scores went 25-13, 19-25, 26-28, 25-18 and 17-15. The decisive fifth set featured 11 ties and four lead changes.

Hawai’i hit .176 in the contest while the Cowgirls (10-8, 3-4 MW) hit just .075 as a team. The Rainbow Wahine also had a big advantage at the net, recording 21 blocks in the contest. Wyoming was no slouch itself though, recording 13 team blocks of its own.

Neither team got an edge from its service game hardly, as Hawai’i held a slim 4-3 edge in service aces. The Rainbow Wahine did commit five more serving errors (14-9) on the night. Hawai’i also recorded nine more kills and 11 more digs on the night.

Paige Lauterwasser led three Cowgirls with double-digit kills in the loss with 13. Lauterwasser also tallied a team-best 19 digs to record her third consecutive double-double. Ruby Jensen and Addy Thorington had 11 kills each. Off the bench, Reagan Sharp added six.

Defensively, Emma Winter’s seven block assists paced the Cowgirls and are a career-high for her. Rylee Heinz and Jensen added six blocks of their own on the night. Anna Melgren had two of Wyoming’s three service aces in the contest.

Sara Quigley led the Cowgirls with 24 assists in the loss and also recorded another double-double, as she added 13 digs. Quigley also had the other ace for the Brown & Gold. Maddy Stucky added 18 assists of her own. Peyton Carruth tallied 11 digs against Hawai’i.

The two team will go back at it again Saturday evening as the Cowgirls host Hawai’i in match two of their series at 6:30.

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