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MWC Weekly Court Notes
CSU sits atop the conference with a perfect 11-0 record.
Nov. 3, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado State posted a pair of road wins in conference play last week and set the MWC mark for the best start in league history at 11-0. The 2001 CSU squad started MWC play at 10-0 before falling at Utah in five games to snap the streak. This year's CSU squad could be the first to go unbeaten in the MWC regular season. Three of the last four years, the league champion was 13-1 in MWC matches (1999-BYU, 2000-CSU, 2001-CSU). CSU was 12-2 last season. CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP DRAWS NEAR, ALL MATCHES TO BE TELEVISED The 2003 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship will make its debut in San Diego this season. The event will be held Nov. 20-22 at Peterson Gym with San Diego State University serving as host. All eight MWC teams will qualify for the single-elimination tournament. For the fourth straight year, all seven matches of the championship will be televised with the MWC-TV Network handling production again this year. Matches will be cleared on several affiliates in the Mountain West region, plus national clearances on CSTV and Fox Sports Net (RM). The championship match will be aired live Saturday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. MT (7 p.m. PT) on FSN, marking the second straight year FSN is carrying the title match live. CSTV will air the MWC Championship semifinals and finals on a tape delayed basis. A detailed listing of the MWC Championship schedule and television clearances will be released at a later date. MWC POSTS 65-43 MARK IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY The MWC is 65-43 in non-conference play, including victories over three ranked opponents. This season, San Diego State defeated then-No. 10 Arizona, Utah defeated then-No. 18 Missouri and BYU defeated then-No. 8 Penn State. The Mountain West Conference has a four-year record of 332-241 (.579) vs. non-conference opponents. "A" FOR ATTENDANCE Six MWC schools have topped 1,000 fans for a single match this season: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming. The Falcons recorded 1,049 at Cadet East Gym for the victory vs. New Mexico Sept. 26--the most fans at a match since a win over Denver Oct. 6, 1999. BYU notched a season-high 2,312 for the match vs. Utah Oct. 10. Colorado State had 3,503 on hand for the season opener Aug. 29 at Moby Arena vs. then-No. 4 Stanford. New Mexico notched 1,339 fans Oct. 3 vs. Utah for "Jam Johnson" night at Johnson Arena. Wyoming totaled 1,389 for the CSU match Oct. 10 and UNLV had 1,187 fans vs. SDSU Sept. 26. BYU and Colorado State are among the top 25 nationally for attendance. QUICK HITS Air Force -- The Falcons return home this week after dropping road matches at Utah and BYU. Sophomore Kristin Hamlett led Air Force with 14 kills and a .219 hitting percentage, while junior Molly White posted a team-high seven blocks last week. Senior Delavane Diaz, the MWC kill leader, was held to just one kill vs. Utah, but rebounded for 10 kills vs. BYU. Diaz has led the MWC in kills 10 straight weeks. Air Force hosts San Diego State and UNLV this week. BYU -- The Cougars posted a 2-0 mark last week in MWC matches, defeating New Mexico and Air Force. Sophomore Lexi Brown led BYU with 25 kills last week, while hitting .478. As a team, BYU outblocked last week's opponents 27-10, led by Brown and junior Lindsey Metcalf who each had 11 blocks. The Cougars are averaging a league-high 3.27 blocks per game in MWC matches and are the only team in the MWC with four players averaging better than 1.0 blocks per game (Brown, Metcalf, Laura Nielsen, Lindsy Hartsock). The Cougars also lead the MWC (conf. matches ) in hitting percentage at .272. Last week, BYU outhit opponents by a combined .359 to .083. BYU visits Utah this week. Colorado State -- The Rams have now won 13 straight matches after defeating San Diego State and UNLV on the road last week. CSU became the first team in MWC history to go unbeaten in conference road matches (7-0). The Rams close out the MWC season with three home matches, beginning with Wyoming this week. Despite being outhit .269 to .247 and outblocked 33.5 to 23, the Rams found a way to pick up two victories last week. Junior setter Melissa Courtney showed her versatility once again by averaging 13.44 assists per game, hitting a team-high .571, totaling 23 digs and serving up four aces in the two wins. Junior Katie Jo Shirley maintained her .400-plus hitting average by posting a team-high 37 kills to go with a .453 hitting efficiency last week. New Mexico -- The Lobos dropped matches to BYU and Utah last week. Senior Anna Reines has reached double figure kills in her last eight matches after leading UNM with 21 kills last week. Freshman Georgia Whitson matched a career-high with 11 kills at BYU. As a team, the Lobos were outblocked 12-4 vs. BYU, but bounced back to out block Utah 9-8. UNM hosts UNLV and San Diego State this week. San Diego State -- The Aztecs are 5-5 headed into the final four MWC matches of the year. Last week, the Aztecs nearly upset No. 16 Colorado State, falling in five games to the Rams, before defeating Wyoming in three games. Senior Megan Schauermann extended her lead in the MWC for blocks (all matches) with a team-high 14 blocks last week, tying a season-high with 10 vs. the Rams. Schauermann has recorded 10 blocks in three of her last five matches and is averaging a league-high 1.56 blocks per game. Senior Aspen McPartland kept her league-leading kill streak intact with 17 kills vs. Wyoming and another 17 kills vs. CSU. McPartland has 17 straight matches with 10-plus kills. The Aztecs travel to No. 18 San Diego, Air Force and New Mexico this week. UNLV -- The Rebels split a pair of MWC matches last week, defeating Wyoming and falling to No. 16 Colorado State in four games. The Rebels put together a solid week of play, led by setter Nicki King. In the two MWC matches, King averaged 14.43 assists per game, hit .500 and totaled 11 digs and seven blocks. Five UNLV players averaged better than a .300 hitting percentage in MWC matches last week, and as a team, the Rebels hit .361. In the win over Wyoming, UNLV hit a season-high .448. The Rebels travel to New Mexico and Air Force this week. Utah -- Utah, 9-2 in the MWC, remains in second place in the league standings after defeating Air Force and New Mexico last week. Senior Kim Turner stretched her block streak to 116 straight matches with a block. Turner also has 11 straight matches with double figure kills after tallying a team-high 25 kills last week to go with her team-leading .525 hitting efficiency. Defense has been a key factor for the Utes of late as five of the last six opponents have hit .160 or less, including a season-low -.047 by Air Force. In MWC play, Utah is allowing opponents to hit a league-low .152. Utah hosts BYU this week.
Wyoming -- The Cowgirls dropped to 3-8 in MWC play after falling to UNLV and San Diego State last week. Senior Michele Rauter returned to the Cowgirl lineup last week and recorded 19 kills in six games played. Rauter, who ranks second in the MWC with 4.03 kills per game, had missed four matches with a knee injury. Junior Sara Maytorena extended her streak to 57 straight matches with at least one block, while senior Leah Powers posted a team-high seven blocks last week. Powers is ninth in the MWC with 1.15 blocks per game this season. Wyoming visits Colorado State and Boise State this week.
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