Oct. 30, 2000

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

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Probable Starters:  Here are the
probable starters for this week's matches:

Setter           Katy Brown (756, 8.89 aspg)
Middle Blocker   Rachel Lau (88, .91 bpg)
Rightside Hitter Barbie Bragg (119, 1.29 dpg)
Outside Hitter   Michele Rauter (245, 2.58 kpg)
Outside Hitter   Jamie Burke (281, 3.16 kpg)
Def. Specialist  Shannon Patrick (83, 1.12 dpg)

Cowgirls Host Conference Match-Ups: The Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball team will host two conference matches this weekend. They will see Air Force on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and New Mexico on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

About Air Force: Wyoming will host the Air Force Academy Falcons on Friday night. The Falcons are currently 6-16 overall and 0-10 in the conference. Freshman Delavane Diaz leads Air Force averaging 4.16 kills and 3.12 digs per game. This is the 12th meeting between the two teams, Wyoming leads the series 9-2. The Cowgirls defeated the Falcons, 3-0, earlier this season. The Falcons are coached by Penny Lucas-White, who is in her fifth season at Air Force.

About New Mexico: The Cowgirls will face the New Mexico Lobos in their final match of the weekend. They are currently 8-12 overall and 4-6 in the conference. Junior outside hitter Jessie Goffard leads the Lobos with 3.88 kills and 3.45 digs per game . This is the 44th meeting between the two schools, Wyoming leads 22-21. They defeated the Cowgirls, 3-0, earlier in the season in Albuquerque. The Lobos are coached by Laurel Brassey Iversen, who is in her 17th season at New Mexico.

            2000 Record  A Year Ago
Wyoming     9-18 (1-9)   9-21  (3-11)
Air Force   6-16 (0-10)  17-12 (5-9)
New Mexico  8-12 (4-6)   11-22 (5-9)

Team Capsules,
Air Force, Fri., Nov. 3, Laramie, Wyo., 7:00 p.m.
 Wyoming Series Record vs.   Wyoming leads 9-2
 2000 Overall Record         6-16
 2000 Conference Record      0-10
 1999 Overall Record         17-12
 1999 Conference Record      5-9 (T-4th)
 Conference                  Mountain West
 Head Coach                  Penny Lucas-White
 Alma Mater                  LSU '93
 Record at School (Years)    35-80 (Four)
 Career Record (Years)       130-160 (Nine)
 Letterwinners Returning/Lost 6/7
 Starters Returning/Lost     1/5
 Sports Information Contact  Kendahl Johnson
 Sports Information Office Phone (719) 333-2313

New Mexico, Sat., Nov. 4, Laramie, Wyo., 7:00 p.m.
 Wyoming Series Record vs.   Wyo. leads 22-21
 2000 Overall Record         8-12
 2000 Conference Record      4-6
 1999 Overall Record         11-22
 1999 Conference Record      5-9 (T-4th)
 Conference                  Mountain West
 Head Coach                  Laurel Brassey Iversen
 Alma Mater                  New Mexico '85
 Record at School (Years)    255-188 (16)
 Career Record (Years)       Same
 Letterwinners Returning/Lost 7/8
 Starters Returning/Lost     4/2
 Sports Information Contact  Andrea Tafoya
 Sports Information Office Phone (505) 925-5523

About Last Week: The Cowgirls went 0-2 over the weekend falling to the ranked Brigham Young Cougars and Utah Utes.

Despite a hard fought match, the Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball Team fell to the 20th ranked Brigham Young Cougars, 3-1, on Friday night in Provo. The Cowgirls opened up the match very competitive matching the Cougars point for point. In fact, they would take the lead 6-5, and never relinquish it. Wyoming would win the game 15-13, taking a game off the Cougars for the first time since 1997. BYU rebounded in game two with eight straight points. They would only allow the Cowgirls to score one point to take the game 15-1, and tie the match up at one. Brigham Young continued their hot streak going up 8-1 in game three. Wyoming would make a run to close the gap at 8-4. Unfortunately, they couldn't overcome the strong hitting and blocking by BYU, falling 15-5. The Cowgirls rebounded in game four taking the early 4-1 lead, but the Cougars would rally with six unanswered points. Wyoming would answer back to tie the game at seven, and the 8-7 lead. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as BYU would close out the game 15-11 and the match 3-1. Brigham Young was led by sophomore Sunny Tonga, who finished with 20 kills, nine digs and a .679 hitting percentage. The Cougars finished the night hitting .328 and with 15 total team blocks. Wyoming was plagued by a .050 hitting percentage and only eight team blocks. Freshman Michele Rauter finished the night with ten kills and eight digs.

They closed out their weekend with a 3-0 loss to the Utah Utes. The Cowgirls fell behind early in the match and good never regain their footing. They fell 15-3, 15-7 to go down 0-2 in the match. They put up a fight in game three taking a 7-4 early lead. Unfortunately, the Utes were too much as they would go onto win the game 15-12 and the match 3-0. Utah was led by Jen Snow-Richards, who finished the night with 14 kills and a .619 hitting percentage. The Utes hit .252 on the night, and out dug the Cowgirls 59 to 32. Senior Melody Friehauf notched five kills and two blocks on the night. The Cowgirls could only manage 25 kills and a .065 hitting percentage. Wyoming now drops to 9-18 overall and 1-9 in the Mountain West Conference. They will host New Mexico and Air Force this weekend.

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