The Central Wyoming College volleyball team hit the road for a tournament hosted by Salt Lake Community College to begin their 2024 campaign on Friday, August 30th and Saturday, August 31st. The Rustlers made the most of the experience, winning three of four matches against stiff competition, with two of their three wins going the full five sets. The only loss of the tournament occurred in their first match against Utah State University-Eastern, which saw the Eagles take all three sets (12-25, 21-25 and 15-25). CWC then went on a hot streak, beating the College of Southern Idaho on Friday evening (25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 14-25 and 15-7) and Arizona Western on Saturday morning (25-23, 14-25, 25-17, 20-25 and 15-10). The Lady Rustlers capped off their blazing run in the tournament with a win Saturday afternoon against Northern Idaho College (27-25, 27-29, 25-14 and 25-23). 

Rustler sophomore Ryann Vail was named to the Crystal "Inn"vitational All-Tournament team. The middle blocker from North Logan, Utah, had 38 kills in four matches along with seven solo blocks and 10 block assists. Vail was very satisfied with the tournament but knows her team has some areas to work on. "I felt like we fought very hard as a team and it was really fun to be a part of," said the middle blocker. 

Freshman setter Rian McKenzie helped facilitate the Rustler's offense by leading the team with 132 set assists for the tournament. The team leader defensively was freshman libero Brooklyn Coats, who racked up 65 digs for the tournament, and also earned herself Region IX North Defensive Player of the Week.

"I couldn't be more pleased with how hard we battled as a team. We had different players step up at different times throughout the tournament," said second year head coach Kim Davis, "It was definitely a great way to start the season, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us." 

The Rustlers travel to Twin Falls, Idaho next weekend for a tournament hosted by the College of Southern Idaho.