Paige Lauterwasser never expected to play such an integral role when she initially arrived on campus to compete for the Wyoming Cowgirl volleyball team. A part of head coach Kaylee Prigge’s first recruiting class, Lauterwasser was a standout at Naperville North High School in Naperville, Illinois where she was the 2022 Conference Player of the Year in the DuPage Valley Conference. Regardless, her freshman season was one she thought would involve a lot of watching and learning from the sideline.
It didn’t take long for that learning to change to a more hands-on approach.
“As a freshman, you kind of walk in not really thinking you’re gonna play. Like, you’re kind of just there to learn from older girls or from the people that have more experience,” Lauterwasser said.
“So, when given the opportunity, obviously I was really excited, but I never knew that it would translate into the role that I have now.”
Starting 17 of the final 18 contests of the season, Lauterwasser turned into a reliable source of offense for the Cowgirls during the tail end of her freshman campaign. She finished the season fourth in kills per set on the team and achieved double-digit kills on five different occasions.
PAIGE LAUTERWASSER TIES IT UP pic.twitter.com/eMsqBk6gES
— Wyoming Cowgirl Volleyball (@WYO_Volleyball) October 4, 2025
However, the most valuable part to Lauterwasser in playing as a freshman was being able to compete alongside some of the veterans of that team, namely then senior Corin Carruth and then junior Kasia Partyka.
“I definitely looked up to her a lot,” Lauterwasser said of Carruth. “She was definitely a huge mentor for me. Then, freshman and sophomore year, Kasia. We’re not the same position but I feel like I just learned a lot from her volleyball IQ and her competitiveness.
“I feel like I sometimes even now I think of like, what would Kasia do? What would Corin do? Like, how would they respond to this?”
Lauterwasser took what she learned from some of her teammates and mentors and the ups and downs of her freshman season and translated them into a prosperous second year in the program. In her sophomore season, Lauterwasser was tabbed an all-Mountain West honoree after ranking ninth in the league in kills per set and eighth in points per set, in which she also led the Cowgirls in both areas.
Before everyone’s very eyes, Lauterwasser was blossoming into one of the top performers on a talented Cowgirl volleyball team. However, her efforts in neither her sophomore or freshman seasons have translated into the Cowgirls making the coveted Mountain West tournament, in which only the top six placing teams in the conference standings compete in.
In her first season, the Cowgirls devastatingly found themselves the odd man out in seventh place. It was much of the same in her second season as well, as the Cowgirls just fell short once again, this time finishing eighth in the standings.
That’s all the motivation Lauterwasser has needed en route to leading the Cowgirls to an impressive 4-2 start to conference play.
“I think we played a lot of really good teams in the non-conference and we’re a young team. I think it just took us some time.”
— mason riding (@ridingmason) October 8, 2025
Kaylee Prigge's team has flipped their fortunes in the conference slate with a 4-0 start to league play.
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“It’s definitely motivating me and the team. Being so close is almost, I feel like worse than being farther away because it was right there. Especially the last two years, it’s come to the last possible weekend of conference and then we just barely didn’t make it,” Lauterwasser said.
Lauterwasser has seemingly completely changed her identity as a player this season as well, as the do-it-all junior has played a much bigger role than just a traditional outside hitter–she’s had to play all over the court while leading an extremely young team with seven freshmen.
Lauterwasser is currently second on the team in points scored this season, behind senior standout Sarah Holcomb. She also ranks second in total digs this season behind yet another senior, the team’s libero Skylar Erickson. The junior hasn’t forgotten her roots, however, as she still leads the team in kills and is still a serious threat as an outside hitter.
“She’s definitely a stabilizer for us, and she carries a heavy, heavy load as far as how much she has to do,” Prigge said of Lauterwasser’s expanded role this season. “Her and Skylar [Erickson] are really the only players on our team that are going six rotations…she just has to do a ton for us.”
The ever-calming presence of Lauterwasser on the court will not only have to continue stabilizing this team, but also elevate their performance if they want a shot at a conference tournament title this season.
An opening 4-2 league record and being tied for third place in the conference is a good start for Lauterwasser and this young roster, but they have a lot of work to do in keeping their position amongst the top of the standings with 12 games still on deck in the conference slate.
