LARAMIE – The University of Wyoming women's volleyball team earned the national recognition it received earlier this week.

The team got 13 votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 poll.

UW coach Chad Callihan wasn't worked up by it, but he sure wasn't planning to discuss it with his team. Not with three of his team's next six matches – in a purposefully challenging nonconference schedule – against other teams receiving votes.

"I don't care," Callihan said. "We got some votes last year and turned around a week later and lost, so it can go as quick as it's come. We just need to make sure we're focused on the next match, and that's all we're worried about right now."

A 3-1 upset of then-No. 14 Ohio State (now No. 22) and a 3-0 start to the season garnered the attention.

Next up is Gonzaga in the Spokane, Washington school's invitational Friday. UW fell 3-2 to the Bulldogs last year, following a 7-0 start.

"The week we played them last year was when we were receiving votes and feeling pretty good about ourselves," the third-year coach said, "and I thought we played a pretty undisciplined game against a very good team."

That loss proved critical to a coaching staff that feels it was two wins from an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Perennial Mountain West power Colorado State (No. 9) earned a bid as the regular-season champion for the sixth straight season. The MW doesn't have a postseason tournament.

Callihan's staff will scout Utah (30 votes in this week's poll) and Montana – Saturday's opponents at Gonzaga – but the women are solely focused on Gonzaga.

"They're really good," Callihan said. "They'll be a top-50 team by the end of the year, provided they stay healthy. They play the game a little bit different, and in some ways that will frustrate us. We'll have to find a way to keep our composure. They're very good defensively."

The Cowgirls are anchored by espnW's National Player of the Week and the Mountain West's Defensive Player of the Week in senior Allison Waldvogel. The 5-foot-7 defensive specialist, or libero, led the team with 46 digs through wins against OSU, South Dakota and Butler at UW's Rumble in the Rockies. She posted a season-high 22 digs in a sweep of South Dakota.

The espnW honor was a first for the program, and the Mountain West honor was a first for Waldvogel.

The Joliet, Illinois, product is in her second season with the program after transferring from Division II Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She cracked the starting lineup during conference play in 2014 and solidified her role to open this season.

"I felt pretty confident in myself out there, and coach Chad talked about before we started the season just going out and playing with confidence," said Waldvogel, one of three seniors.

She also limited her mistakes with 0.09 reception errors per set in the opening weekend and chased down countless balls to keep rallies alive. Her teammates call her an "animal" for her relentlessness.

"As liberos and defenders back there, just letting a ball hit your floor, it's almost like, I don't know, I take it personally," Waldvogel said, "'cause it's like, 'No! There's no ball that's gonna hit my floor."

Callihan said one or two plays didn't stick out last week, which is a good thing.

"I don't think there were a lot of ups and downs," he said, "and in that position, we're looking for consistency, and I think that she provided that for us."

Waldvogel was a sharp defender entering her junior year, but other parts of her game needed more attention.

"She's always been a pretty good defender, but her serve-receive passing and serving have improved quite a bit," Callihan said. "That was one of the things that kind of held her back at the beginning of last year, and she's worked hard to improve in those areas."

Soccer looking for first win

Following a perfect 6-0 record at home in 2014, the UW women's soccer team returns to the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex for the home-opener against Morehead State at 3 p.m. Friday.

The Cowgirls (0-0-3) have 10 home games this season and hope to mark the win column after three draws.

UW was in Honolulu, Hawaii, last week and tied Hawaii 2-2 and Denver 0-0. The Cowgirls opened the season with a scoreless tie at Montana.

"I think every draw there's a feeling – sometimes you feel like you win, sometimes you feel like you lose, and I think with Hawaii it was a tough one," UW coach Pete Cuadrado said. "It felt good because of the energy. It felt like we deserved a little more. But that's a good team, and (we're) pretty proud of walking away with the tie."

Cuadrado's also proud of his team posting two shutouts in three matches as sophomore Georgia Rowntree and redshirt Cassidy Entsminger split time at goalkeeper.

"They both did great," Cuadrado said. "Against Hawaii, they both had to play well. It was a back-and-forth game, and they both did great, so at this point we're riding with what we've got, and I think they've earned it that way, and they both seem very comfortable with it."

The attack is still finding its comfort level.

UW outshot Denver 11-4 without finding the net. Reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Kaitlyn Lomsnes is nursing an ankle injury, making her only appearance in just a few minutes against Denver.

The sophomore led the team with 10 goals in 2014.

"When you can't score goals, you start to go home and wonder if this is a coincidence or not," Cuadrado said. "We'll be happy when we get her back, but at the end of the day, this is also a great opportunity for some other people to fight through some things and figure it out and figure out how they can play on their own too."

UW fell 2-1 at Morehead, Kentucky, in 2014, and fans can expect another physical match Friday.

"They're a good team, great athleticism up top," Cuadrado said. "They'll challenge us. We definitely know it's not an easy game. We'll be ready for a good team coming in here, but any time you get 'em at 7,220 (feet), you expect to get a win."

Freshman Charlotte Hume missed last week's games with an ankle injury. Sophomore Alisha Bass also is recovering from an injury.