Boise State Wins in Five Over Wyoming

Thursday, November 7

Boise, Idaho

6 p.m. MT

Boise State

16-8,8-4Mountain West

Wyoming

14-10,6-7Mountain West

Wyoming

Boise St.

Anabel Kotzakov goes high to hit over the wall against Gonzaga in 2024.

11/7/2024 9:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho – Four Broncos reached double-digit kills in a balanced offensive performance as Boise State rallied from a set down twice to get by the Wyoming Cowgirls in five sets, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 15-10.

Boise State improved to 16-8 overall and 8-6 in Mountain West play, while Wyoming moved to 14-10 and 6-8.

The first set was close throughout, with Wyoming gaining the lead early. After eight ties and four lead changes, the Cowgirls rallied from 22-20 down to take the set 25-23 over the Broncos.

Trailing by five at 18-13 in the second set, Boise State rallied with a 10-2 run to surge past the Cowgirls into a 22-20 advantage. The Broncos then held Wyoming off for the 25-23 set win clinched by a Kiersten Van Kirk crosscourt shot.

Set three was like the first two: the team that won rallied from behind late for the victory. Boise State led 23-20 but could not put it away as the Cowgirls rallied with five-straight points to take it 25-23.

The fourth set was wild, with five lead changes and 12 ties. In the must-win set for the Broncos, they trailed 19-18 when they rallied to take the lead with a 3-0 run to go up 21-19. The period eventually went into extra points before the Broncos won it on their fourth set point 27-25.

Set five was another battle as they traded three lead changes and five ties. The Cowgirls claimed the lead early and held it to the midway point at 8-7. Then, the Blue and Orange rallied with an 8-2 run putting it away on back-to-back kills by Kiki Remensperger and Anie to win the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.

TOP BRONCOS

Anabel Kotzakov recorded a team-high 17 kills and tied her career high for points with 17.5.
Paige Bartsch matched Kotzakov's kill total of 17 and added one service ace, one block solo and two block assists for a team-high 20 points.
Three Broncos recorded double-doubles on the night, with Kiki Remensperger tallying a team-high 27 assists and 12 digs, Lilli Etter added 21 assists and 10 digs. At the same time, Bre Mitchell had a career-tying 16 assists and a team-high 24 digs.

NOTABLES

Boise State played in front of a sold-out house of 1,375 Bronco fans.
Paige Bartsch increased her total for career matches with double-digit kills to 78.
Bre Mitchell's three service aces moved her into fourth place for aces in a single season during the Rally Scoring Era (since 2001).
The team's 10 service aces gave the Broncos a combined 193 on the year, tying for the third most in a single season during the Rally Scoring Era.
Kiersten Van Kirk had a season-high five blocks against the Cowgirls.
Kiki Remensperger's double was her 10th of the season (including two triple-doubles), Lilli Etter's was her eighth of the season, Bre Mitchell's was her fourth of the year.
The win was the Broncos' second this season and the third time in the last two years that they had won after dropping the first set.
This was the sixth five-set match of the year for the Broncos – all during MW play – they are now 3-3 in those contests.

QUOTABLES

Shawn Garus, head coach

"I'm proud of the team and how they gutted out this tough match in five sets against a good team in a big match for the team."
"I was really happy with our balanced offensive effort tonight with so many players contributing to this victory."
"Anabel (Kotzakov) had a great match for us, playing aggressive and with a lot of energy. She is a competitive kid, and during practice this week, I told her that we needed her to bring it to this game. She did a great job responding to the challenge, getting a career-high in kills tonight."

WHAT'S NEXT

On Saturday, Boise State will host the league-leading Colorado State Rams in Bronco Gym at noon (Mountain). Admission is free to anyone with a ticket to the football game later in the day, as long as seats are available.