LARAMIE \u2014 University of Wyoming volleyball coach Kaylee Prigge couldn\u2019t wait for a crack at Texas-El Paso.<\/p>\n
The Miners\u2019 move to the Mountain West ahead of the 2026 volleyball season \u2014 despite departures from the league \u2014 meant added firepower to a league that Prigge figured could pull multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a friendly first encounter as league foes.<\/p>\n
The Mountain West preseason favorites only trailed in the third set and routed the Cowgirls, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 on Friday at the UniWyo Sports Complex.<\/p>\n
UTEP (9-4 overall, 1-0 Mountain West) outkilled UW, 48-34, and limited the Cowgirls to a .132 hitting percentage.<\/p>\n
Several similarities showed between the teams\u2019 stats entering Friday, but the differences magnified afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally just .50 off of every statistical category (between Wyoming and UTEP),\u201d Prigge said. \u201cI feel like (UTEP) came in prepared for what they needed to do. (For them), it felt like, \u2018OK, (Wyoming) is a better digging team than us. We need to outdig them.\u2019 That is exactly what they did.\u201d<\/p>\n
UTEP generated 44 digs compared to UW\u2019s 38. The Miners \u2014 thanks in part to Luvina Oguntimehin\u2019s match-high 12 kills \u2014 hit .353.<\/p>\n
Rylee Heinz led UW (7-5, 0-1) with seven kills, while Ruby Jensen and Reagan Sharp added six apiece.<\/p>\n
UW\u2019s overall kills leader Paige Lauterwasser finished with five on 24 swings. She needs 11 more to reach 1,000 career kills.<\/p>\n
It marked the first match since Sept. 4 that UW did not have a player with double-digit kills.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat surprised me about (UTEP) is their ability to dig and their defense,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cThis is the stuff that we can obviously do against a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing about UTEP\u2019s execution and skill surprised Prigge, she said. The Miners \u2014 with two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances \u2014 finished 19th nationally in the 2025 rating percentage index.<\/p>\n
Nerves emerged for the Cowgirls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like we came in looking a little bit nervous to be ourselves and we have earned being ourselves,\u201d Prigge said. \u201cIt just took us way too long to get going in the things that has to be our bread and butter. Serving. Digging.\u201d<\/p>\n
UW plays with \u201cvery large goals,\u201d Prigge said. Those aspirations contributed to UW\u2019s anxieties, Prigge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the rubber hits the road in terms of it is conference play and this is the team that is picked to finish No. 1 and you have got to go out and beat them on your home floor,\u201d Prigge said. \u201cGreat atmosphere tonight, but for whatever reason, we weren\u2019t quite ourselves until way too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heinz led with three blocks, while Sara Quigley and Maddy Stucky added 14 assists apiece.<\/p>\n
UW didn\u2019t lead until the third set, when it led by as many as three (5-2). A 3-0 UTEP run pushed it in front 11-10. UTEP never relinquished that lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe finally got going in the third set, and you kind of saw in that third set what a dogfight this could be and should be,\u201d Prigge said.<\/p>\n
UW will host the Miners at 6 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcited about the opportunity to respond tomorrow because one of the things I am worried about in this schedule format is being in the position UTEP is now in.\u201d<\/p>\n