Two Cowgirls Earn All-Mountain West Volleyball Honors

Wyoming seniors Laura Beach and Kayla Slofkiss were named to the Mountain West volleyball All-Conference team released Monday.

Beach received the accolade for a third straight season, while Slofkiss earned her second consecutive honor. Beach also became the fourth Cowgirl to earn All-MW at least three times.

Beach led Wyoming with 295 kills and a .399 hitting percentage. Her hitting percentage led the MW and was 14th in the NCAA. It was also the fourth-best in Wyoming single-season history. Beach was second on the team with 120 total blocks and averaged 1.09 blocks per set throughout the season. In conference play, she hit a MW-best .404, averaged 1.15 blocks per set and added 2.85 kills per set. The senior from Colorado completed her career as the all-time leader in hitting percentage (.372), fifth with 438 total blocks and 12th with 982 kills. She was also named to the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSida) Academic All-District team. Beach was voted to first team District VII in the NCAA Division I.

Slofkiss finished second on the team with five double-doubles and became the 11th Cowgirl to record 1,000 career kills against UNLV. She was second on the team with 284 kills (2.58 kps) and 268 digs (2.44 dps). In conference action, Slofkiss added 2.76 kills per set and 2.44 digs per set to help guide the Brown and Gold. During her senior season, Slofkiss joined Jodi Purdy (2009-12), Ronda Munger (1984-87) and Michele Rauter (2000-03) as the only players with 1,000 kills and 900 digs during their career. Slofkiss ended her career eighth in digs (951) and sets played (427) and also 11th in kills with 1,037 for Wyoming.

This year’s senior class that includes Beach, Slofkiss and Courtney Chacon won 85 matches in their careers at UW. That win total is third all-time as a class. Bridget Shanahan was the lone four-year senior last year and helped Wyoming win 88 matches from 2012-15, while the 1983-86 teams won 86 matches for the Cowgirls.