FORT COLLINS, Colo. - For the second consecutive season, the Utah Utes advanced to the championship match of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Utes defeated San Diego State in the first of two semifinal matches in straight games, 30-24, 30-19, 30-20.
Utah was led by Kim Turner with 12 kills and nine digs, while Sabine Schulz hit .300 to lead the team (7-1-20). Libero Jackie Morrill led the team with 20 digs, while Schulz chipped in 14. Setter Kelsie Kartchner again led all players with 45 assists and two service aces.
San Diego State was led by Aspen McPartland with 13 kills and a .346 hitting percentage, and she was the only Aztec with a service ace in the match. McPartland, Zlatina Anguelova and Robyn Gregg all tied for team highs with 12 digs and Megan Schauermann led with three blocks.
The Aztecs hit just .051 for the match, while the Utes had 14.0 total blocks. The match took one hour and 35 minutes.
GAME NOTES
Semifinal Match No. 1
(2) San Diego State vs. (3) Utah
Utah advances to the MWC Championship for the second straight year and will face the winner of the Colorado State vs. BYU semifinal match.
San Diego State is the first No. 2 seed to lose in the MWC Tournament. The No. 2 seed won the MWC Championship each of the last three years (1999-CSU, 2000-BYU, 2001-Utah).
Utah jumped out to a 6-0 lead on blocks in game one. The Utes outblocked the Aztecs 24-18 in two prior meetings this season and 14-4 in today's match. Utah's Brenda Beal totaled seven blocks, while teammate Kim Turner added nine blocks.
San Diego State was swept four times this season, and in three of those SDSU hit below .100 in the match, including today. The Aztecs hit .051 vs. Utah.
San Diego State's Aspen McPartland has topped .300 in hitting percentage in her last four matches, including .346 today vs. Utah. She also recorded her 17th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs.
UP NEXT:
The Utes will now face the winner of the Colorado State/Brigham Young match in the championship match tomorrow, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m.
Volleyball Box Score
Volleyball Box Score
2002 UTAH VOLLEYBALL
Utah vs San Diego State (Nov 22, 2002 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 14.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 19 5 60 .233 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 15 5 38 .263 Utah................ 30 30 30 23-7
3 17 6 38 .289 San Diego State..... 24 19 20 21-12
San Diego State | ATTACK |SET| SERVE |SRV|DEF| BLOCK |GEN
## Name GP| K E TA PCT| A| SA SE| RE|DIG|BS BA BE|BHE|POINTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Totals.............. 3| 0 0 0 .000| 0| 0 0| 0| 0| 0 0 0| 0| 0.0
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 0.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 0 0 0 .000 Site: Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
2 0 0 0 .000 Date: Nov 22, 2002 Attend: Time: 1:35
3 0 0 0 .000 Referees: Joan Powell, Verna Klubnikin
Semifinals of Mountain West Championship
Yellow Card: Game 3 - Rochelle Currier
1 2 Total
Tie scores 6 3 9
Lead changes 2 3 5
