FORT COLLINS, Colo. - For the second consecutive season, the Utah Utes have won the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship, this time defeating BYU in three-games, 30-22, 30-25, 30-23. With the win the 24th-ranked Utes improve to 24-7 while the Cougars fall to 14-17.
Utah was led by two-time tournament MVP Kim Turner with 16 kills and a .542 hitting percentage, while Sylva Strzinkova added 12 kills and Lyndsey Phillips had 10. Strzinkova also led all players with 12 digs and Jackie Morrill added 10 digs. Four different Utes had three blocks in the win.
BYU was led by all-tournament team selection Allison Larson with 10 kills and a .421 hitting efficiency. Uila Crabbe led the Cougars with 11 digs and four different Cougars chipped in three blocks in the match.
For the second straight season, Utah's middle blocker Kim Turner was named the MVP of the Mountain West Conference Championship. Strzinkova was also named all-tournament, while Utah setter Kelsie Kartchner was named Setter of the Tournament and libero Jackie Morrill was named the Defensive Specialist of the Tournament. From BYU, setter Karina Puikkonen and Larson were named to the team, while San Diego State middle blocker Aspen McPartland and Colorado State setter Melissa Courtney rounded out the team.
Series since MWC was formed (1999): Utah 6-5 (Utah has won five straight)
All-Time Records in Conference Tournaments: BYU 16-4, Utah 11-5
Records in MWC Tournaments: BYU 8-3, Utah 8-2
Utah won its second straight MWC Championship and Kim Turner earner her second straight Tournament MVP honor for the Utes.
BYU advanced to the MWC Championship for the third time in four years, while Utah made it to the final for the second year in a row. This year marked the first all-Utah MWC Tournament final.
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.
BYU entered today's championship match with a 6-1 record in its last seven matches at Moby Arena, including a 5-0 mark in MWC Tournaments played at Moby.
BYU and Utah have met twice in MWC Tournament play, but never in the finals - both meetings were in the semifinals. BYU defeated Utah 3-1 at Moby Arena in 2000, while Utah defeated BYU 3-1 last year in Provo.
Utah improved to 19-1 when winning game one this season.
Utah used a 12-3 run in game one to take a 12-6 lead. The Utes maintained a six-point cushion for most of the match en route to a 30-22 win.
The teams battled point-for-point in game two up until a 16-16 before Kelsie Kartchner stepped in to serve three straight points and help the Utes to a 20-17 lead and an eventual 30-25 victory
The All-Tournament Team
Melissa Courtney - Colorado State
Aspen McPartland - San Diego State
Allison Larson - BYU
Karina Puikkonen - BYU
Sylva Strzinkova - Utah
Kim Turner - Utah
SETTER: Kelsie Kartchner - Utah
DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST: Jackie Morrill - Utah
MVP: Kim Turner - Utah
Volleyball Box Score
Volleyball Box Score (3rd game only)
Colorado State 2002 Volleyball
BYU vs Utah (Nov 23, 2002 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.5
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 11 41 .073 GAME SCORES 1 2 3 TEAM RECORDS
2 14 7 36 .194 BYU................. 22 25 23 14-17
3 9 7 35 .057 Utah................ 30 30 30 24-7
TEAM ATTACK PER GAME TOTAL TEAM BLOCKS: 8.0
Game K E TA Pct
1 14 4 34 .294 Site: Fort Collins, Colo. (Moby Arena)
2 21 8 42 .310 Date: Nov 23, 2002 Attend: 245 Time: 1:35
3 17 11 43 .140 Referees: Verna Klubnikin, Patsy Malta
Championship Match of MWC Tournament
