No. 5 Utah Upsets Top-Seeded Colorado State to Advance to Championship Match

Fifth-seeded Utes kept its Cinderella run through with its come-from-behind 3-2 win (23-30, 30-16, 18-30, 30-22, 15-12) over the top-seeded and 20th ranked Rams

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Nov. 24, 2007

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -

2007 MWC Volleyball Championship Home Page

• No. 5 Seed Utah Upsets Fourth-Seeded TCU to Advance to Semifinals of MWC Volleyball Championship
• No. 2 UNLV Advances to Semifinal Round
• No. 8 San Diego State Advances to Quarterfinals with 3-0 Win Over No. 9 Air Force
• No. 3 BYU Defeats Sixth-Seeded New Mexico, 3-2, in MWC Volleyball Championship Quarterfinals
• UNLV Defeats BYU in Five Games to Advance to First-Ever MWC Championship Final

The fifth-seeded Utah Utes kept its Cinderella run through the 2007 Mountain West Volleyball Championship with its come-from-behind 3-2 win (23-30, 30-16, 18-30, 30-22, 15-12) over the top-seeded and 20th ranked Colorado State Rams at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. Utah avenged a loss in last year's tournament after dropping the 2006 championship match to Colorado State in five games. The win propels the Utes into Saturday night's 8:00 pm PST tournament finale with the second-seeded UNLV Rebels.

The Utes followed suit with the two previous five-game matches in the 2007 MWC Championship by taking games two, four and five. BYU was the first team in the tournament to rally from a 2-1 deficit, as they defeated New Mexico in the first quarterfinal Thursday. UNLV was the second squad to fall behind 2-1 and rally with wins in the final two games, as they knocked off BYU.

Utah out-hit CSU by a .206 to .184. Utah had three games where they hit in the .200s (game one, two and five) and in game three they hit .343. CSU, on the other hand, hit well in games one (.289) and three (.333), but lowly in the one they lost. In the losses, CSU only hit .029 (game two), .059 (game four) and .069 (game five).

Utah was led by double-doubles from Kathryn Haynie, Kate Robison and Keisha Fisher. Haynie and Fisher combined kills and digs for the feat, while Fisher used assists and digs. Robison had a match-high 20 kills and pitched in 20 digs. Robison had 11 kills and 19 digs. Fisher had team-highs in assists (31) and digs (20).

Lori Baird and Whitney Webb joined Haynie and Robison in double-figures with 13 and 12, respectively. Baird led the Utes a .357 hitting efficiency. Baird, also, led the team in blocks nine (one solo).

Fisher and Shardlow split the setting duties. Fisher dished out a team-high 31 assists, while Shardlow had 26.

Ashley Fornstrom was the only Ram with a double-double, as she posted 51 assists and 15 digs. Fornstrom hit .429 with three kills, as well.

Jamie Strauss led the Rams in kills with 18 and was followed by Mekana Barnes' 16 and Tessa Nelson's 11. Barnes, also, pitched in all four of CSU's aces.