LARAMIE, Wyo. (Oct. 20, 2015) – Almost halfway through the Mountain West schedule, the Wyoming volleyball team will hit the road once again this weekend for matches against Utah State and Boise State. UW will face off against the Aggies on Thursday night beginning at 7 p.m., MT while the match against the Broncos will begin at 2 p.m., on Saturday.
The Cowgirls will look to flip the switch after falling to both Colorado State and San Jose State this past week. UW lost in straight-sets to then-No. 21 Colorado State before Courtney Chacon and Bridget Shanahan guided the Cowgirls with double-doubles in a five-set loss to San Jose State. Reed Copeland continues to hold her spot at the top of MW in blocks. She is fourth in the NCAA with 115 total blocks this season and seventh with an average of 1.60 per set. Laura Beach is hitting a team-leading .348 with 187 kills, as Kayla Slofkiss is right behind with 184 kills. Shanahan and Kayla Henderson also have triple-digit kills for UW with 170 and 110, respectively. Courtney Chacon is just short of 400 assists for the season with 397 through the first 20 matches and Allison Waldvogel has remained steady defensively with 324 digs.
“At this point in the season we know their personnel and they know ours,” UW head coach Chad Callihan said. “It comes down to execution, defensive intensity and who will go out and make the plays. We know this is a tough stretch for us, but hopefully we can get the defense back to when we played these teams earlier in the year.”
Utah State (5-17, 1-7 MW) comes into this weekend after being swept in straight sets by both Nevada and San Diego State last weekend. Rachel Gale is leading the Aggies with 3.14 kills per set, while Hannah Gleason is sixth in the MW averaging 4.32 digs per set with a total of 332 on the season. UW defeated the Aggies in a four-set battle earlier this season in Laramie, but has lost the previous two matches in Logan, Utah.
Boise State (14-6, 6-2 MW) sits in second currently in the MW standings. The Broncos are also second in the league in hitting percentage and have won six-consecutive matches and are coming off a 3-2 win at San Diego State on Saturday. Sierra Nobley is the MW leader in kills and has averaged 4.22 per set during conference matches. Sarah Baugh leads the league averaging 12.62 assists per set. As a team, the Broncos are the leaders in kills and assists, and are second in conference play in hitting percentage. Wyoming will be looking for its first win at Boise State in five tries.