Cowgirls get better, but fall in three

Richard Anderson photo
From left, sophomores Lauren Whitney, Jenna Arneson and Dani Bedore get ready for the serve Thursday night against BYU.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Wyoming Cowgirls got a little better as the night wore on. Brigham Young, however, was strong from start to finish and the result was a three-game win for the Cougars.

BYU, ranked 24th in the country, earned the 25-14, 25-19, 27-25 win in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams at the UniWyo Sports Complex.

It was the third match against a Top 25 program for Wyoming this season and although the Cowgirls (1-9) have yet to win a set against the ranked teams, they are not only getting closer, they are getting more confident.

“It can only get better. We’re definitely not backtracking at all,” said Wyoming sophomore middle blocker JennaRae Jester, who is basically in her first year of extensive action with the Cowgirls. “We started with some big teams during preseason, but we’re building and we’re only getting better.”

While it is obvious that those ranked teams are more physical than the Cowgirls, Jester said they are learning to play the mental part of the game against good teams.

“We’re making sure that we’re in it all of the time, that we don’t check out; that we’re always playing hard each point and we don’t give them runs because that is kind of what hurts us,” Jester said.

Against the Cougars (8-2), the Cowgirls weren’t always in the game early and basically never led. But a better second game led to a better third game and nearly an opportunity to extend the match.

Wyoming head coach Carrie Yerty said that it wasn't like they just ran out of time; they just started too late.

“We have to be able to come out from the very first play of the game and be ready to play, regardless of who is across the net,” Yerty said. “Our team is unique in the fact that we don’t have a big bench. Every player on our team has to carry a load. They have to carry a leadership role, they have to carry their responsibility in terms of their position and as an athlete.

“It hurts us if we have one player off, or two players off, and we have to find a way to regroup and continue to play without focusing on what is coming at us. It’s more about what we’re taking care of.”

At the same time, Yerty said the Cowgirls could have packed their bags in the end and went home early. They didn’t and benefited from not giving in despite the three-game loss.

“I think Lauren Whitney took some big swings at the end of the game and I think Tasha is doing a nice job of running the offense and staying focused at what her task at hand is,” Yerty said. “We had a good game plan and they are getting better at learning how to follow it from start to finish. We’re going to be a better team every time we step out on the court, and I expect that and they expect that. We’re not going to look through the rear view mirror. We’re going to look forward to Utah and try again.”

Weishahn, a senior setter, is one of the few players on the court for Wyoming who had any real experience going into the season.

While the young Cowgirl hitters are learning the game, she is learning about them. She said it really wasn’t their night against the Cougars, but these types of matches can only help in the long run.

“We have a tough conference, so going into the first three matches of conference play, we have the top three teams,” Weishahn said. “As long as we compete well, we’ll play with everyone. I really believe that we can play with each of those teams, even though they are ranked so high.”

It wasn’t a real impressive night offensively by either team, as the Cougars hit just .221 and Wyoming basically hit half of that at .116. Sophomore Dani Bedore led all hitters with 11 kills for Wyoming, with Whitney, a sophomore, adding 10 kills and Jester six. Weishahn had 30 set assists.

BYU was led by 6-foot-5 middle blocker Kayla Walker and 6-1 senior Rachel Dyer with 10 kills each.

“They are bigger, but that doesn’t mean we can’t compete with them and can’t hang in there with them,” said the 6-2 Jester. “I think that might have scared us a little bit, but I definitely think we know now that we can compete with them. That won’t intimidate us again.”

The Cowgirls will now prepare for Utah, which is now 7-3 on the season after a five-game loss to CSU in Fort Collins, Colo., on Thursday night.

“They have some nice hitters, but they are also a very nice ball-control team, so we’re going to have to go at splitting their offense to provide holes for our smaller attackers,” Yerty said of the Utes. “Basically, we’re going to have to take care of the ball on our side of the court. When we do that, we put ourselves in position to win.”

Weishahn said they’ll work Friday and Saturday on just focusing on themselves.

“We’re a young team, a little team,” Weishahn said. “We have a lot of dogfight in us. For now, we’re just going to work on competing and keeping our energy up.”

Match time is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the UniWyo Sports Complex.