Two Games and Five Sets Later

Saturday, September 7

Laramie, Wyo.

6 PM

University of Northern Colorado

Wyoming

9/7/2019 9:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Hannah Adler

Wyoming- With the Cowgirls coming off two sweeps during day one of the Wyoming Invite, as well as the Bears taking one sweep and one 3-2 victory, both teams were ready for an all-telling match.
You probably guessed right that both teams fought through all five sets, but only one team came out with the win. That tonight was the Cowgirls as they pulled through towards the end taking an overall 3-2 victory over the Bears.

In set one with both teams coming off two previous wins from day one, both the Bears and the Cowgirls came out with high intensity. As the set unfolded neither team got more than three points ahead of one another, going back and forth until about halfway through the set when Jadyn McCartney hit her 4^th kill forcing Wyoming to take a timeout after the next play, while the Bears took the lead 17-13 off an attack error by the Cowgirls. The Cowgirls quickly responded with a 3-0 run trying to tie it up at 20-20, but they fell short at 20-19, Bears ahead, while losing their momentum.

One the Bears 24^th point Maddy Bremer and Jadyn McCartney had a big block verse the Cowgirls, guiding them and their team to win set one at 25-22. McCartney and Kailey Jo Ince take the lead with 5 kills each in this set, along with a .500 team hitting percentage and .531 kill percentage.
To begin set two, the Bears came out strong and with a competitive mentality that was quickly cut short by the Cowgirls as both teams remained neck-and-neck again with points. Not for long though, as the cowgirls took on a 4-0 scoring run taking the lead at 13-9 over the Bears. The Bears did an excellent job adjusting to the Cowgirls going on a 5-0 scoring run of their own, with McCartney serving, to give them a 22-17 lead.

The Bears we're clicking in every which way they needed to during this match taking the win for this set 25-18 over the Cowgirls on a 7-1 scoring run. The Bears ended with 15 total kills and a .387 hitting percentage. KJ with 5 more kills on the set helped the Bears tremendously through it all. The Cowgirl's service errors were detrimental to them in this set with them at a total of 5 service errors, allowing the Bears a huge advantage in the end.

With two winning sets under the Bear's belt, going into set three, the Cowgirls came out with a strong fight, but again both teams went back and forth exchanging points. With a huge kill by KJ the Bears took the lead 14-13, but the Cowgirls adjusted quickly to eventually take a 17-15 lead. The Cowgirls continued their streak with a balanced rhythm, working off our errors, to pull ahead at 20-18 forcing the Bears to take a crucial timeout.

The Cowgirls were firing on all sides towards the Bears, and it only took one kill followed by one service ace for the Cowgirls to take the third set at 25-23. You could see the shift in the Bears performance as thy dropped to a .209 hitting percentage with 7 overall errors in the set.

The Bears had their work cut out for them during this 4^th set as they we're knocked back on their heels from the Cowgirls during the last set. While the Bears we're fighting hard, the Cowgirls were using their momentum towards their advantage and took an early lead over the Bears at 10-5. A Kill by Lauran Hinrichs got the Bears out of their funk and back into the game, but the Cowgirls just wouldn't let the Bears go on a streak.

That was until the Bears we're down 8-14 but worked their way back up with a 5-0 scoring run putting them at 13-15, still two points behind the Cowgirls. Both teams leveled off and stayed parallel to one another going point-for-point until the Cowgirls pulled ahead taking this set at 25-23 over the Bears.

While Kyndall Feathers almost doubled her amount of digs, as well as Muff, McCartney, and KJ tacking four plus more kills onto their stats, it's just wasn't enough to stay out of set five.

During set five, every point counts, and the Cowgirls understood that with getting off to a strong start at 5-1 over the Bears. As the Cowgirls kept working to 15-points, the Bears just couldn't get a good thing going for them. As the Bears were trying to get the ball to KJ, McCartney, and Muff as much as possible the connection was just not fully there.

What head coach Lyndsey Otes had to say about it all, "our offense was as good as its been all season so that's some really some good signs there of how good our offense can be. But, we just couldn't defend well enough, and we really beat ourselves with service errors in crucial situations This needs to be a growing match for us and we'll get back at it in the practice gym."

In light of the Bear's loss tonight Daisy Schultz and Kailey Jo Ince we're awarded All-Tournament Team for this Wyoming Invite.

To stay up to date on all things UNC volleyball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @UNC_BearsVB.