The University of Wyoming volleyball team came out on the losing side of a 5-set battle with San Diego State University on Thursday night in Laramie, 25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 20-25, 11-15.

UW was poised to take the match with an 8-4 lead in the fifth set, but SDSU rattled off four points, sparked by a missed serve, to tie the set at 8. The Lady Aztecs then used that momentum to finish off the match.

"We made a few errors at critical times," said Head Coach Carrie Yerty after the match. "We had all of the momentum going in, then we switched sides and made a few errors and I think it sucked the life out of us. We've got to be able to bounce back after a one point mistake."

The Cowgirls came out strong in the first set with offensive production from the middle and right side. Erin Kirby, Reese Plante and Camille Coffman combined for all 12 of UW's kills in first set victory. SDSU switched from a 6-2 to a 5-1 offense with Johnna Fouch which allowed their middles to flourish. Andrea Harnisch and Emily Harris, who didn't have any kills in the first set, combined for 22 kills through the rest of the match.

The story went the opposite way for Wyoming, who saw the offense get decidedly more lopsided to the outside, allowing the Lady Aztec block to gain confidence as the match progressed. Through the final three sets, the Cowgirls only found 3 kills from the middle and opposite side.

"I'd like to see our offense be a little bit more diverse," said Yerty. "It seemed like when it came down to the wire we were depending on Jody (Purdy) and we have five other attackers on the court."

Wyoming (0-2, 11-5) was led on offense by Purdy with 14 kills, followed by Kirby with 9 and Plante and Calli Miller with 8 each. Becky Stewart had 23 digs and Kirby had 8 block assists on defense. SDSU (1-1, 9-5) had four players notch double-digit kills, led by Raegan Selton with 16.

The Cowgirls will face Nevada in the UniWyo Sports Complex on Saturday, September 29 at 7 p.m.

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