Cowgirls Look to Keep Hot Start Rolling at Portland Tournament

* University of Wyoming press release

LARAMIE -- The Wyoming Cowgirls hit the road for the second consecutive week as they travel to the Portland Tournament, hosted by the University of Portland.

The Cowgirls will play three matches in three days beginning Thursday night at 7 p.m. against the host-Pilots. UW will face Eastern Washington Friday at 4:30 p.m., Mountain Time and will close things out Saturday at noon Mountain against CSUN.

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Wyoming’s 6-0 start to the season is its best since it began the 2014 campaign with seven consecutive wins. The Cowgirls are coming off a 3-0 weekend at the Texas Tech Red Raider Classic. Wyoming swept Texas A&M-Commerce and the host-TTU in four sets Friday before closing with a thrilling five-set victory over Louisiana Saturday morning.

Skylar Erickson and Sarah Holcomb were named to the all-tournament team at the Classic, with Holcomb being named the tournament’s MVP.

Erickson and Kasia Partyka received Mountain West Player of the Week honors Monday, announced by the league office. Erickson was named the Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 4.5 digs per set over the weekend, including recording a career-high 21 digs in the win over Texas Tech.

Erickson was the backbone of a Cowgirl defense that allowed opponents to hit just .140 in the three matches.

Partyka, meanwhile, took home Offensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 12.08 assists per set last week. Partyka led the Cowgirls to a .268 team hitting percentage in the three wins and recorded back-to-back double-doubles against TTU and Louisiana.

Against the Red Raiders, Partyka tallied 51 assists and 17 digs. She closed the weekend with another 51-assist performance to go along with 14 digs against the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Entering the week, Partyka leads the nation in assists with 12.27 per set. Partyka also ranks fifth nationally in total assists with 270. As a team, the Cowgirls are fourth in the country in kills per set with 15.23 per. Also offensively, Tierney Barlow ranks 16^th in the NCAA with a .481 hitting percentage while Holcomb is No. 27 hitting at a .454 clip.

Portland enters the weekend with a 3-3 mark overall and will be playing its first home matches during this tournament. The Pilots are led offensively by Maui Robins' 2.86 per set while Lia Hawken is second on the team at 2.77 per.

Maddie Corpe leads Portland with 97 assists while Kili Robins leads the squd with 54 digs. As a team, Portland is hitting .163 while opponents are hitting .178. Defensively, the Pilots are at 1.96 blocks per set.

Eastern Washington is led by Sage Brustad's 3.95 kills per set and 4.82 points per. Brustad is fourth on the squad with 12 blocks. Tanai Jenkins leads EWU with 1.75 blocks per set. Libero Makenna Collins' four digs per set are a team-high. As a team, the Eagles are hitting .201 with opponents hitting .224.

EWU is at two service aces per set and is tough defensively at the net, averaging 2.16 blocks a set as a team.

CSUN has a trio of student-athletes averaging at least two kills per set in 2023. Taylor Orshoff leads the team with 55 kills and 2.50 per set. Leah Miller is averaging 2.36 kills per while Carisa Barron is at two a set. As a team, the Matadors are hitting .193 with opponents hitting .226.

CSUN deploys a two-setter offense with Barron leading the team with 4.82 assists per set while Taylor Dunlap is at 4.55 per. In the back row, libero Kelsey Knudsen is averaging an impressive 4.23 digs per set.

Thursday’s match against Portland can be streamed live on ESPN-Plus.

From Bison to Triceratops - All of Wyoming's Official Things

Every state in our nation has chosen things that represent the state in one way or another to be official state things. Like a flower, or animal. Wyoming is no different.

The Equality State, or the Cowboy State, depending on which state slogan you want to go with, has a state flower. But did you know we also have a state tree and a state fish? Yes, we even have a state code.

To be an official thing, a member of the state legislature must write and submit a bill to the legislature declaring that a thing will be the official state thing. Then the legislature votes to pass the bill, or not, if it passes, the governor signs the bill into law and we have a new official state thing.

Here is what we have so far, all of Wyoming's official things. Now you can win big on Wyo Trivia Night if that's a thing that exists.

- From Bison to Triceratops - All of Wyoming's Official Things

Source: Cowgirls Look to Keep Hot Start Rolling at Portland Tournament

Filed Under: Wyoming Volleyball