Former North County High School Athletes playing college sports

Cowgirls Handle Air Force in Three

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 28, 2017) -- The University of Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team took care of business against Air Force on Thursday night. In its first Mountain West road match of the season, UW (7-9, 2-2 MW) won in straight sets (25-20, 25-21, 25-22) led offensively by redshirt freshman Jackie McBride and sophomore Halie McArdle. The three-set sweep proved to be Wyoming’s seventh-consecutive win over Air Force.

Both McBride and McArdle each had eight kills for the Brown and Gold, while freshman Marissa Harmon posted a match-high 34 assists. On the defensive side, junior Reed Copeland lead both teams with seven total blocks, as both senior Lily Austin and redshirt sophomore Cori Aafedt recorded double-figure digs.

Sitting in eighth place all-time in UW history, Copeland surpassed 400 career blocks while leading the Brown and Gold defense in Colorado Springs. The Federal Way, Wash., native now has 402 blocks and needs five to hold a share of seventh place in Cowgirl history.

Copeland, senior Emily Lewis and sophomore Tara Traphagan each added seven kills on Thursday night. McBride and Traphagan each posted four total blocks, as McArdle was behind Austin and Aafedt recording seven digs against Air Force.

Set One

With the first serve in Colorado Springs and then an attacking error from the Falcons, UW put itself on the scoreboard right away. A couple big blocks from Copeland and Traphagan set the tone early and back-to-back attacking errors from Air Force gave UW a 12-8 lead. Two-straight points thanks to a Cowgirl attacking error followed by a receiving error forced Wyoming to call timeout up, 19-16. Copeland recorded her 400th career block to put UW up, 21-18 before the Brown and Gold earned six of the next eight points for the win. Copeland led the way with five kills and four blocks in the opening set.

Set Two

The Falcons offense came out as fierce as ever to open the second set. Air Force held a lead of 5-3 off a kill, only to see UW even the score at seven. Behind four-straight points for Wyoming, Air Force called timeout down, 9-12. UW used a number of errors to keep its lead throughout the second set. Air Force was then able to stick around with a couple kills late in the set, but a kill from McBride helped UW close the set, 25-21. At intermission, Wyoming held a .267 hitting clip compared to Air Force’s .167 and also held the advantage in total blocks (9.0-5.0). McArdle posted five kills in the second two, while McBride had three blocks.

Set Three

Wyoming never fell behind in the third set until Air Force had a 15-14 lead. A back and forth match kept the Falcons within reach to begin the set. A kill from Traphagan moved UW’s lead to four, 12-8 and also prompted Air Force to call timeout in the third stanza. Air Force found themselves within one, 12-13 after its third service ace of the match and then the Cowgirls called timeout to recollect themselves with Air Force holding a two-point advantage, 16-14. After a couple even scores, Wyoming reclaimed the lead, 20-19 and ultimately never looked back. A set error from the Falcons gave UW the 25-20 win and the three-set sweep. While McBride and Lewis shined for the offense in the third set, Harmon ran it adding 12 assists.

Up Next

Wyoming will continue its conference season on the road with two contests next week. UW will face Utah State on Thursday before traveling to Boise State on Saturday.

--LJM--

Lincoln Mansch

Assistant Director, Media and Public Relations

University of Wyoming Athletics