Wyoming Volleyball Earns Three Conference Honors
Three Wyoming Cowgirls received recognition with the announcement of the Mountain West All-Conference Volleyball team and special awards Monday.
Sophomore Tara Traphagan and redshirt freshman Jackie McBride earned All-MW honors. Freshman Marissa Harmon was awarded the league’s Freshman of the Year.
Cowgirl head coach Chad Callihan was pleased some of the players received accolades from the conference.
“Really happy for Jackie and Tara. You’re not gonna find two harder workers. They’re very committed to what we do. They come in and compete every day, so nice to see them be rewarded for that. Nice honor for Marissa to get the Freshman of the Year. Had a couple of players she was really competing with for that spot. She’s done some really nice things for us this season. Really been consistent at the setting position, especially to do it as a true freshman. I think that’s one of the big reasons we were able to finish second (in the conference standings) this year.”
Traphagan led Wyoming in kills this season with 307. That included a career-best 21 at New Mexico Oct. 19. She had double figures in kills in 13 of the Cowgirls’ 30 matches. Traphagan finished second on the team with 2.74 kills per set and third with 105 total blocks.
McBride was fourth in conference play with a .346 hitting percentage and eighth overall in blocks at 1.10 blocks per set. She led UW with 123 total blocks and was fourth on the team with 205 kills.
Harmon became the fourth Cowgirl to win MW Freshman of the Year honors. She joined Rachel Smith (2004), Jodi Purdy (2009) and current teammate Reed Copeland (2015). Harmon finished with 1,070 total assists. Her 10.60 assists per set in MW action was third. Harmon topped Wyoming with 34 service aces and also had 108 kills and hit .300. She also led the squad with nine double-doubles and had 216 digs this season. Harmon received MW Offensive Player of the Week honors Oct. 9. She earned honorable mention All-MW.
This marked the seventh straight season that UW has had at least two players named all-conference. The Cowgirls finished second in the Mountain West with a 12-6 record and finished 17-13 overall.