The Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team finished their 2010 campaign with a record of 22-10 overall and 7-9 in the Mountain West.

The Cowgirls followed one of their best seasons in recent history with a fairly active offseason, signing four new players for the 2011 season: middle blocker Katherine Feldman of Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, outside hitter/middle blocker Bridget Shanahan of Royalton-Hartland High School in New York, setter Whitney Smith of Seven Lakes High School in Texas, and Wyoming volleyball Player of the Year outside hitter Meghan Sipe of Cheyenne East High School.

Feldman was a three-year letter winner and helped her team to the Rocky Mountain Regional Tournament last year. She is also a member of the National Honor Society.

Shanahan holds the record for kills and blocks at RHHS and was picked for the USA Volleyball High Performance Continental Team.

Smith was a two-time letter winner at SLHS and holds the school record for assists per match.

Sipe was an All-Conference selection twice and an All-State selection her senior year, not to mention her 4A Player of the Year honor.

Wyoming will need all the help they can get from these four recruits after losing four seniors, including team captain JennaRae Jester, and returning only two starters. One of those starters, however, is junior outside hitter Jodi Purdy, who was the only Cowgirl to earn All-Mountain West Conference honors.

Purdy led the team in kills with 3.21 per match and was second in digs with 2.61 a game. She also ranked first in the conference in service aces at .39 per set and third in the conference in points, averaging 3.95 per set, according to Wyoming Athletics.

The spring was also successful for Purdy. She represented the Cowgirls at the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team Open Tryouts in Colorado Springs in February. Purdy was part of a group of 204 participants from 81 different colleges.

With a successful season behind them, a solid incoming recruiting class, and an all-conference selection as an anchor, Wyoming can be optimistic for the upcoming 2011 volleyball season.

Zach Greubel

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