FORT COLLINS, Colo. - For the first time in the MWC Championship history, the No. 3 (Utah) and No. 4 (BYU) seeds will play in the finals as BYU upset No. 1 Colorado State in five games 30-23, 26-30, 29-31, 30-19, 15-11. BYU advances to the conference tournament finals for the third time in four years, while this is the first year the Rams are not in the MWC Championship finals.
BYU's Karina Puikkonen posted the highest hitting percentage in MWC Tournament history with .733 (11-0-15), while Colorado State setter Melissa Courtney tallied a career-high 10 kills and hit .562 to lead the Rams.
The Cougars outblocked the Rams 20-3 in the match as Carrie Bowers and Laura Nielsen each had nine. In addition to an outstanding match in blocking, BYU hit over .300 in four of the five games, including a .438 percentage in game five. In its last 48 attempts, BYU committed just three hitting errors.
BYU has won three of the last four meetings vs. CSU in Moby Arena, all in five games.
The Cougars face Utah at 2 p.m. MST in a match televised live on Fox Sports Net (Rocky Mountain).
GAME NOTES
Semifinal Match No. 2
(1) Colorado State vs. (4) BYU
BYU advances to the MWC Championship for the third time in four years and will face defending conference tournament champion Utah.
This year's MWC Championship marks the first time the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds made it to the finals. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have played in the finals each of the last three years.
Three of the last four meetings at Moby Arena between BYU and CSU have gone five games and BYU has won all three. Including tonight's match, BYU and CSU have played five games only three times in the last 24 meetings since 1991.
BYU is the only Mountain West team to defeat the Rams at Moby Arena. BYU defeated CSU in five games in the 2000 MWC Championship match, in five games Oct. 18 and again tonight.
BYU used an 11-3 run in game one, turning a 14-14 tie into a 25-17 lead. The Cougars went on to win the game 30-23. CSU has 12 hitting errors in the game.
Colorado State hit just .056 in a game one loss, but hit .325 in a victory in game two. Michelle Knox hit .625 (6-1-8) to lead the Rams in game two, while setter Melissa Courtney hit .500 (4-1-6).
With Melissa Courtney serving, the Rams jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start game three. The Cougars responded with a 17-8 run for a 17-15 lead midway through the game, but the Rams held on for the win 31-29.
BYU opened game four with a 12-3 lead. The Rams came back with a 7-1 run to cut the lead to 14-10, but BYU opened up a 22-12 lead en route to 30-19 victory. The Cougars hit .344 in game four and had just two hitting errors in 32 attempts.
BYU is 9-2 when winning game one this season and Colorado State is 5-5 when losing game one this season.
BYU's Karina Puikkonen posted the highest hitting percentage by a setter in an MWC Tournament match with .733 vs. the Rams.
As a team, BYU committed just three hitting errors in its last 48 attempts to close out the match.
Volleyball Box Score
Volleyball Box Score
The Automated ScoreBook
BYU vs Colorado State (Nov 22, 2002 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 3.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 12 36 .056 Site: Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
2 20 7 40 .325 Date: Nov 22, 2002 Attend: 1845 Time: 2:20
3 14 11 55 .055 Referees: Patsy Malta, Eric Asami
4 12 14 47 -.043 Semifinals of Mountain West Championship
5 8 7 25 .040 BYU will face Utah in Finals
