Laramie, Wyo. – Winthrop volleyball opened their season with a loss to Wyoming on day one of the Rumble in the Rockies Invitational by a final score of 3-0 (14-25, 16-25, 23-25) Friday afternoon at the Uniwyo Sports Complex on the campus of the University of Wyoming.
 
Winthrop (0-1, 0-0 Big South) | Wyoming (1-0, 0-0 Mountain West)
Aug. 25, 2023 | Uniwyo Sports Complex
Winthrop 0, Wyoming 3 (14-25, 16-25, 23-25)
 
How it Happened
 
Set 1 | Wyoming started the match by scoring the first five points before Brookelynn Thomas recorded a kill to get the Eagles on the board for the first time in 2023. After the Cowgirls took it back to a five-point margin on the next play, Winthrop scored three of the next four points on two Wyoming mistakes and Thomas's second kill of the set, cutting the deficit to three. Wyoming then largely maintained a lead ranging from three to five points for much of the rest of the set. Despite this, the Eagles went on an 8-5 run to cut the lead to 15-13. The rally had Avery Jolley, Karli Shepherd and Alicia Davis combine to score all of the eight Eagle points. Shepherd also tacked on an ace during the run. After Winthrop cut to three at 17-14 on an error by the Cowgirls, Wyoming scored the final eight points of the set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Set 2 | The Cowgirls started the second set by taking an early 7-1 lead, forcing Winthrop to call for time. Following the break, Wyoming scored the next two points on a kill by Alicia Roberts and an error against the home team, temporarily halting the Cowgirl scoring binge. After Wyoming seized their largest lead of the set at 12-3, Winthrop scored six of the next eight points to cut it to 14-9, forcing the Cowgirls to call a timeout. The run was capped off by an error by Wyoming and also featured an ace by Thomas. After the stoppage of play, Jolley's kill made it a four-point game but the Cowgirls went back up by seven at 19-12 by scoring five of the next seven points to force another Eagle timeout. Kills by Roberts and Thomas coming out of the timeout made it a five-point game but Wyoming ended the set by scoring six of the final eight points, going up 2-0 in the match.
 
Set 3 | The two teams split the first eight points of the third set with Shepherd's three kills accounting for three of the first four Winthrop points before Wyoming scored six of the next seven point, giving them a 10-5 lead and forcing Winthrop to temporarily stop the action. After the timeout, a 14-10 run by the Garnet and Gold tied it at 19. Jolley notched four kills while Roberts had four blocks during the Winthrop rally. Thomas capped off the run with a kill and forced Wyoming to call a timeout. Wyoming then re-took the lead on an error only for Thomas to tie it again on a kill. The Cowgirls got the lead back at 21-20 but saw Shepherd get a kill to knot the set at 21. Wyoming seized the lead at 23-21 following a Winthrop timeout but saw Winthrop cut it to one twice on a Jolley kill and an error against the Cowgirls. Shepherd's error ended the set and the match on the next play, giving Wyoming the win in straight sets.
 
Statistical Leaders
Avery Jolley (11 K, 28 TA, 6 DG, 2 BL)
Brookelynn Thomas (7 K, 15 TA, 1 SA, 2 DG, 3 BL)
Karli Shepherd (5 K, 20 TA, 1 SA, 4 DG)
Alicia Roberts (2 K, 1 DG, 5 BL)
Isabella Murray (2 K, 17 AS, 3 DG, 4 BL)
 
Notables
The Eagles have played 1,776 matches all-time as the program holds a mark of 1,058-717.
Winthrop registered more blocks in the match, 10-8.
Murray was the only Eagle who was in the double figures in assists (17).
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles face South Dakota State later tonight at 7 p.m. EST.
 
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