Cowgirls hit the road to Cali, Vegas

UW sophomore Lauren Whitney

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

As the weather begins to cool in Wyoming, it’s still always pleasant in San Diego and Las Vegas.

But it is no vacation for the Wyoming Cowgirls, as they look to get back on track with a pair of road matches against the Aztecs and Rebels. Wyoming faces San Diego State Thursday night at 8 p.m. and UNLV Saturday at 2 p.m.

It won’t be like a cultural shock for the Cowgirls to compete in these resort areas, as they have already competed in a preseason tournament in Hawaii, as well as in Oregon.

Wyoming coach Carrie Yerty said that volleyball is their No. 1 priority on the road, but they always try to blend a little pleasure with business on these type of trips.

“We are very good at focusing in on what the task of hand is. We try to allow them to see something wherever we go, so they can get it out of their system,” Yerty said. “At Hawaii, the ocean was huge. They needed to go and get to experience the beach, then be able to focus on volleyball. In San Diego, we’ll probably let them take a job on the beach and do a little shopping, then really get geared for our match.”

The two matches are important for the Cowgirls, 2-5 in Mountain West Conference play and 3-12 overall, as they try to stay in the middle of the pack in the standings. SDSU is 2-4, with UNLV 4-2.

“This is an opportunity for us to go compete with somebody who is vying for somewhat of the same position in conference as we are,” Yerty said. “We’re certainly excited to go San Diego. (Sophomore outside hitter) Lauren Whitney’s family is from there and hopefully she’ll have a good match with that.”

The Aztecs are 5-11 overall and are led by Lauren Salisbury, who is averaging 3.12 kills and 1.05 blocks per set, while Stephanie Darnall is adding 2.45 kills and 1.65 digs per set. San Diego State returns four starters and eight letterwinners that went 13-16 overall and 4-12 in the in the Mountain West Conference a year ago.

“San Diego State is very diverse team,” Yerty said. “They run a 6-2 offense with four hitters who can pretty much hit from any location on the court, and that will be new for us. In terms of our blocking scheme, we won’t be able to match up for every rotation because they won’t have a rotation where they swing from.”

The Rebels are 11-8 overall and will take on Colorado State before facing the Cowgirls. They are led by Jessica Walters, who is averaging 3.48 kills and .89 digs per set, while Erin Greenwood is adding 2.43 kills and .62 blocks per set. UNLV returns three starters and 10 letterwinners that went 24-6 overall and 12-4 in the in the Mountain West Conference a year ago.

“Las Vegas is a big enough distraction in itself,” Yerty said. “The girls are fired up and they understand that every game across the board is equal in wins and losses. Well go out and put our best foot forward and see what we can do.”

The Cowgirls are led by sophomore rightside hitter Dani Bedore, who is averaging 3.11 kills, which is sixth in the MWC, and 1.64 digs per set. She is followed by Whitney, who is adding 2.77 kills and almost one dig per set.

Although Wyoming is coming off of two disappointing three-set losses to New Mexico and TCU last weekend at home, Yerty said that they worked hard this week in practice -- just like they have all season -- to get ready for the road trip.

Yerty said they’ll will come out fighting.

“I don’t think there is any team in the conference that thinks Wyoming is an easy win,” she said. “I think we put pressure on them because they think it is a win that they should have, but they are not sure they can get. We don’t have anything to lose. We go out and play hard every time. We know that we are building and getting better every time we step out on the court.”