LARAMIE, Wyo. — The University of Wyoming volleyball team is beginning its 2024 campaign today with a trip to the state of Nebraska for the Omaha Invitational, where it will play a pair of matches against 2023 NCAA Tournament teams.
Wyoming opened the season with a match-up against Washington State today. The Cougars, who are receiving votes in the Preseason AVCA Top-25 Poll, were picked to finish sixth in the West Coast Conference.
The Cowgirls close the Omaha Invitational against host school Omaha on Saturday. The Mavericks went 15–14 last season but went 12–4 in Summit League play and won the league’s postseason tournament, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history as a Division I school. Omaha, which was picked to repeat as a Summit League champ, returns its top three hitters from a season ago.
The Cowgirls return 12 student athletes from last season’s squad, which went 22–10 and made Wyoming’s first trip to a postseason tournament since 2019. The Cowgirls advanced to the Great Eight round of the NIVC in 2023. It also marked the first time since the 2019 season that the Brown and Gold eclipsed the 20-win mark.
UW was picked sixth in the Preseason Mountain West Poll.
Among the returners for the Cowgirls is All-Mountain West honoree and league leader in assists Kasia Partyka, whose 10.7 assists per set ranked 12th in the country. The 10.7 assists per set is the 10th best assist mark nationally returning this season. Partyka’s 1,299 total assists a season ago were the eighth most in the nation and the seventh most in a single season in program history.
Honorable Mention All-MW honoree Rylee Schulz also returns to the 2024 squad after ranking fifth in the league with 3.3 kills per set and ninth in the conference with 3.8 points per set.
Also returning in 2024 are Macey Boggs, Skylar Erickson, Sierra Grizzle, Sarah Holcomb, Paige Lauterwasser, Kayla Mazzocca, Abi Milby, Kendal Rivera, Sonte Stewart and Evelyn Udezue. Erickson and Grizzle appeared in every match last season for the Cowgirls while Holcomb led the Mountain West in both total blocks and blocks per set. Holcomb’s .320 hitting percentage last season was ninth best in the conference.
New to the Wyoming roster this season is a quintet of freshmen — Rya Fingerlin, Reagan Sharp, Maddy Stucky, Addy Thorington and Claire Wagstaff — and a pair of transfers, Jordan Sandy and Emma Winter.
