Cowgirls Host Conference-Leading Hawai’i This Weekend

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirls return home for a full two-match slate in Laramie as Wyoming welcomes in conference leader Hawai’i for a pair of 6:30 p.m., matches. The Cowgirls host the Rainbow Wahine Thursday and Saturday.

The Cowgirls (10-7, 3-3 MW) are coming off a pair of four-set victories last week against Air Force, extending their winning streak to three. UW opened the week with a win at home over the Falcons Thursday evening before rallying to win three-straight sets at the academy in Saturday’s victory.

Paige Lauterwasser did it all for UW in the two wins. In addition to leading the Cowgirls in kills with 3.75 per set, including a season-high 20 in Saturday’s win, Lauterwasser also paced Wyoming with 4.38 digs per set and had a pair of double-doubles on the week.

Lauterwasser ranks 10th in the Mountain West averaging 2.75 kills per set overall and 3.05 during league play. Rylee Heinz ranks sixth in the MW averaging 0.97 blocks per set while her .322 hitting percentage is eighth in the league. At the service line, Addy Thorington ranks seventh (0.32) and Peyton Carruth is eighth (0.31) in the conference in service aces per set. Sara Quigley’s 5.42 assists per are ninth in the Mountain West.

As a team, the Cowgirls are third in the conference in assists per set with 11.72. Wyoming also ranks fourth in the league in aces (1.51) and kills per set (12.68), as well as in team hitting percentage with a .217 clip. The Cowgirls also allow an opponent hitting percentage of .217, which ranks fifth in the league.

Thursday’s match against Hawai’i is Autism Awareness Night at the UniWyo Sports Complex. Saturday is Kid’s Day.

Hawai'i enters the week sitting atop the Mountain West standings and has won 13 of its last 14 matches. The Rainbow Wahine rank third in the league in team hitting percentage (.236) and leads the MW with an opponent hitting percentage of just .141. Hawai'i also leads the league in team kills per set with 13.10. The Rainbow Wahine are second in the conference in every other statistical category, assists, blocks, aces and digs per set.

Panna Ratkai ranks second in the MW averaging 4.05 kills per set and is fourth in the league averaging 3.46 kills per. Adrianna Arquette's 9.76 assists per set is second-best in the Mountain West. Miliana Sylvester is tops in the MW with 1.15 blocks a set. The Rainbow Wahine have two student-athletes, Ratkai (0.43) and Cameron Holcomb (0.36) who rank fourth and fifth, respectively in service aces in the Mountain West.

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