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No. 1 Seed Colorado State Downs No. 2 Utah To Win Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship
Junior middle blocker Lyndsey Henderson led Utah with a career-high 18 kills.
Nov. 22, 2003
SAN DIEGO, Calif. Colorado State became the first team to go unbeaten in regular season MWC play and tonight the Rams added another first by becoming the only No. 1 seed win the Mountain West Conference Championship as they downed No. 2 seed Utah 3-1 (30-26, 23-30, 30-20, 30-28). CSU earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which will mark the ninth straight appearance for the Rams in the NCAAs. Sophomore outside hitter Tess Rogers, who earned tournament MVP honors, led all players with 21 kills, while junior outside hitter Becky Sarauer and junior middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley each had 12 kills and sophomore right side hitter Dre Downs added 10. Sarauer and junior middle blocker Bri Frech were also named to the all-tournament team and junior setter Melissa Courtney was named the outstanding setter of the tournament. Freshman Kristen Karlik led the Rams with 12 digs, while Courtney, Sarauer and Frech each chipped in 10 and Downs led all players with six blocks. Junior middle blocker Lyndsey Henderson led Utah with a career-high 18 kills and senior middle blocker Kim Turner added 16, while Shelly Sommerfeldt had 15 kills and Danielle Leichliter chipped in 10. Turner and Sommerfeldt were both named to the all-tournament team while senior libero Jackie Morrill -- who had a match-high 20 digs -- was named the outstanding libero of the tournament. Leichliter and Turner tied for team highs with four blocks each. Senior middle blocker Aspen McPartland from San Diego was the final member of the all-tournament squad.
Colorado State took control of game one early as it jumped out to a 5-1
lead and never trailed. The Rams hit .302 in game one and Rogers posted
six kills. In game two Utah took an early 4-1 lead and extended the lead
to as many as eight (16-8) before closing out a 30-23 victory to knot
the match at 1-1. The Utes hit .442 in game two to CSUâ€TMs .375. Lyndsey
Henderson racked up eight kills for Utah and Rogers added another seven
for the Rams.
Following a 6-6 tie in game three, Colorado State 6-1 run for a 12-7 lead and pushed the margin to 25-15, forcing a Utah timeout. The Rams maintained their 10-point cushion, winning game three 30-20. CSU hit .452 in the game to .257 for the Utes. Rogers posted six kills in the game. Neither team led by more than three points in game four as the teams traded sideouts throughout, deadlocking seven times from 15-15 to 28-28. The Rams ended the game and the match with a kill by Becky Sarauer and an ace by Bri Frech to account for the final margin. CSU hit .224 in game four to .205 for Utah.
MATCH NOTES: Colorado State and Utah met as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the finals for the second time in three years. The Utes edged the Rams in five games in the 2001 tournament. The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have met in the finals of the MWC Tournament three of the last four years, and this year marks the first time the No. 1 seed captureed the tournament championship. The No. 2 seed has won three titles (CSU-1999, BYU-2000, Utah-2001), while the No. 3 seed Utes won last year's championship. Tess Rogers totaled 61 kills for the tournament, breaking Nina Piukkonen's record of 53 set in the 2000 tournament.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
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