PROVO -- In the 70th match-up between the BYU women’s volleyball team (3-11) and Wyoming (13-4), the Cougars came out with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-19, 18-25, 24-26) loss at the Smith Fieldhouse Saturday night. The last time Wyoming won in Provo was on Sept. 22, 1984.
Making her debut as a middle blocker, senior University of Arizona transfer Stephanie Snow led the team on the attack with 18 kills on a .552 clip. True freshman Jennifer Hamson tallied 15 kills while setter Kiana Rogers had 48 assists and 23 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Libero Kendalyn Hartsock anchored the back row with 24 digs with Christie Carpenter also tallying 15.
In the only win on the night, the Cougars started out on a 5-0 run in the second set led by Hamson with back-to-back kills to give the Cougars an 18-12 lead. Carpenter later tallied three-straight kills to bring the score to 23-16. Jessica Jardine finished off set two (25-19) with a kill.
Hamson finished set two leading the squad with six kills while Snow added four on .667 hitting. Rogers and Hartsock held up the back row with an impressive 12 and 10 kills, respectively, in the second set alone.
With an 8-2 start, the Cougars held off the Cowgirls in set four, sending the match to five sets. Carpenter’s power kill at 9-4 had the crowd on its feet, igniting the Fieldhouse for the rest of the match.
Despite hitting .312 in set one, over Wyoming’s .293, the Cougars gave too little too late, falling 25-22. The Cowgirls once again got off to a 7-1 lead to start set three with the Cougars unable to catch up, falling 25-18. A service ace at 20-all knotted the two teams with the Cougars finally falling in set four 26-24.
The Cougars will next host in-state rival Utah at 7 p.m. on Friday in the Smith Fieldhouse.