Broncos Drop Wyoming, 3-1

Saturday, September 23

Boise, Idaho

Noon MT

Boise State

6-6,2-0Mountain West

Wyoming

11-2,0-2Mountain West

Wyoming

Boise St.

Photo by: Boise State University

9/23/2023 2:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOISE, Idaho – – Saturday was the Paige Bartsch show in Bronco Gym.

The junior outside hitter set a career-high with 30 kills – tied for the second-most in a four-set match in the rally scoring era – as Boise State volleyball defeated Wyoming 3-1 (25-17, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18) to move to 2-0 in conference play. The Broncos have won their last four matches.

Bartsch benefited from the setting of Noelani Helm who posted her fourth-straight match with at least 35 assists.

Boise State (6-6, 2-0 MW) claimed the first two sets against the Cowgirls, having only trailed once at that point in the match. The Cowgirls rallied to claim the third set after jumping to a 4-0 lead to open the set. The Blue Wall of Chey Day and Kiersten Van Kirk, along with Bartsch's attacking prowess pulled the Broncos within two points twice, but a 6-1 Wyoming (11-2, 0-2 MW) run put the set out of hand as the Blue and Orange hit 52% in the set.

Both teams traded barbs in the fourth set, with Boise State failing to pull away by more than three points. A Wyoming service error, a Bartsch kill and a block provided the Broncos the elusive breakaway, giving them a 14-9 lead.

Bartsch scored six of Boise State's final seven points – all on kills – to secure the set and match.

Top Broncos

Paige Bartsch led the way with 30 kills – a new career-high – on all 61 attacks. She added 10 digs for the double-double.
Bartsch added three service aces.
Noelani Helm had 38 assists (35.8%) to go along with 18 digs in one of her best performances with the Blue and Orange.
Chey Day and Kiersten Van Kirk had seven and six total blocks, respectively.

Quotables

"Wyoming did a nice job of getting out in front of Paige early in the match. She had to adjust a little bit. She looked like she couldn't be denied. It didn't matter what the tactic was, she was going to hit the crap out of it and that usually works out pretty well. " – head coach Shawn Garus
"Our conference is really good. We played two quality teams to start it off. To win at home is what you have to do if you want to be in the mix down the road." – Garus
"The energy from Bronco gym is just insane. I've never played in an environment like this and it's really fun." – Noelani Helm

Notables

Boise State has claimed 12 of 16 sets played during its four-match win streak.
The Broncos have opened Mountain West play 2-0 in back-to-back seasons.
Boise State hit 83% in the first set.
The Broncos celebrated head coach Shawn Garus' 250th win with the program this weekend, as he reached the milestone with Boise State's 3-2 victory over Colorado State on Thursday.
Paige Bartsch's 30 kills are tied for second in a four-set match in the rally scoring era in school history – the most since Lauren Ohlinger had 34 against Wyoming (Feb. 20, 2021).
Noelani Helm had her fifth double-double of the season.
Chey Day's seven total blocks are a season high.

What's Next
Boise State continues its Mountain West slate on the road next weekend at Air Force (Sept. 28, 6 p.m. MT) and at New Mexico (Sept. 30, 1 p.m. MT).