On Feb. 19 and Feb. 20, Boise State volleyball rolled past the Wyoming Cowgirls in a series matchup winning both matches 3-0 and 3-1. This battle gave the Broncos a ticket to the first place spot in the Mountain West Conference.
Outside hitter Lauren Ohlinger set a career record for her 34 kills and 13 digs. She now ties the school record with Tara Brinkerhoff who previously set the record on Nov. 14, 2000 versus Idaho State.
“I think it’s crazy that I tied the record,” Ohlinger said. “I didn’t know that until after the game, but I’m so excited. You know my team helped me get there, we just worked real hard out there today.”
In their first matchup, Ohlinger dominated on offense with 18 kills and 13 digs. She also hit at 42.9% for a season-high.
The Broncos began the match with a 13-1 run in the first set. Keeping this momentum, the team battled to win all three sets 25-12, 25-18 and 25-14.
“It was great to get a 3-0 win today,” said Head Coach Shawn Garus. “You know both teams are really physical, they block and hit well, and have some big hitters. I think the key today was being able to move the ball around and pick on certain players. Once we got our passing going by the middle of the first set, our offense was pretty tough to stop. I really like what we’re doing.”
Coming in at 10 kills and a career-best of six blocks was outside hitter Kayly Pau. But it was setter Danielle Boss who led in the setter position with 33 assists, four kills, nine digs and three blocks.
Heading into their second match, the Broncos had a tougher competition compared to Friday. The match ended up going into four sets, but the Broncos pulled out the win 5-20, 25-19, 24-26 and 25-23.
Following Ohlinger’s 34 kills, 13 digs and two block assists, was Pau with 11 kills and two blocks. Boss also recorded her third double-double of the year on a team-high 50 assists and 15 digs.
“I think we’ve really been preparing this whole week in practice and working really hard having really good competition,” Ohlinger said. “I think it helped us a lot and I think we’re definitely improving every weekend. I’m really proud of the team.”
The team had a solid backline, starting with libero Allison Casillas who had a team-high of 19 digs. Librero and defensive specialist Jordi Holdaway tied with two other teammates for 13 digs.
Closing out the match, the Broncos had a hitting percentage of 23.5, 68 kills, seven service aces, 75 digs, and eight and a half blocks.
“I thought it was a hard-fought victory today for the Broncos,” Garus said. “I thought we were up and down today. We were really good some of the time and we were really bad at other times. But ultimately, I like getting the win over a solid Wyoming team.”
The Broncos will hit the road next week to take on the Lady Rebels from UNLV in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27.
