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MWC Quick Hits (Nov. 4)
Utah ends Colorado State's 20-match win streak.
Nov. 4, 2001 MWC NOTEBOOK THIS WEEK AT A GLANCE The Mountain West Conference closes out regular season league play this week. Colorado State will look to rebound from last week's loss at Utah with games vs. Wyoming, Air Force and New Mexico this week. The Rams would wrap up the No. 1 seed in the MWC Championship by winning its final three league matches. Utah must win two road matches this week to earn the No. 2 seed in the MWC Championship. BYU needs just one victory this week to secure a No. 3 seed, which would subsequently lock San Diego State into the fourth seed. UNLV, New Mexico and Wyoming will battle for seeding position this week, while Air Force will enter the MWC Championship as a No. 8 seed. MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP This year's championship will take place in Provo, Utah, and for the second straight year, all matches will be televised by SportsWest. MWC Championship seeding will be announced Nov. 11. The home court has proven to be an advantage in the MWC Championship, that is until the finals. Last year, BYU upset Colorado State in Moby Arena to win the conference tournament title, and in 1999, the Rams upended the Cougars in Provo to capture the crown. The winner of the MWC Volleyball Championship Nov. 17 earns an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Last year, BYU earned the league's automatic bid, while Utah and CSU gained at-large bids. WEEK 10 QUICK HITS (Nov. 4) Air Force -- The Falcons snapped a 16-match losing streak with a four-game win over Denver last week. Delavane Diaz was one kill shy of her season-high with 22 kills vs. the Pioneers along with a .450 hitting percentage. Tiffany Bishop and Lamecca Jefferson each tallied season highs for kills with 14 and 13, respectively. Air Force nearly won back-to-back matches for the first time this season as New Mexico held on for a five-game win in Colorado Springs Friday. Diaz and Brittany Edmonds notched double-doubles for the Falcons in the loss to UNM. BYU -- The Cougars split a pair of conference matches last week, falling to No. 6 Colorado State and defeating Wyoming. Nina Puikkonen's season-long streak of 10 or more kills in every match was snapped vs. Colorado State, but she bounced back for 10 kills vs. the Cowgirls, hitting double figure kills in 21 of 22 matches on the year. Sunny Mahe recorded a team-high 12 kills vs. CSU and Jackie Bundy put down a team-high 12 kills vs. Wyoming. Colorado State -- The Rams defeated No. 16 BYU Friday, posting their 20th straight win and first regular season victory in Provo since 1984, but Colorado State fell to No. 15 Utah the following night in five games. Angela Knopf talled her seventh double-double of the season with 16 kills and 11 digs vs. the Cougars and posted her first triple-double this year with 14 kills, 15 digs and 12 blocks vs. the Utes. Five Rams tallied double figure kills vs. Utah, led by Courtney Cox with 22. New Mexico -- The Lobos dropped a match to New Mexico State, but regrouped for a five-game win over Air Force in league play Friday. Six Lobos reached double figure kills, led by Malena Thompson with 16. Kelly Griffin recorded her league-best second triple-double of the season with 63 assists, 10 kills and 18 digs vs. the Falcons. San Diego State -- The Aztecs dropped a non-conference match to San Diego, but bounced back for a five-game at UNLV Friday. Katie Magnuson recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 17 kills and 14 digs vs. the Rebels, while Zlatina Anguelova picked up her third double-double of the season with 17 kills and 11 digs vs. UNLV. UNLV -- The Rebels lost their lone match of the week at home to San Diego State. Michelle Johnson led four Rebels in double figure kills with a season-high 17. Sheila Ocasio-Clemente tallied 11 total blocks as UNLV outblocked the Aztecs 17 to 10. Ocasio-Clemente, the nation's leader in blocks, has recorded 42 blocks in her last five matches for an 8.4 per match average. Utah -- Utah stretched its win streak to 10 matches with wins over Wyoming and No. 6 Colorado State. The Utes won their third straight match vs. a ranked opponent with the five-game upset over the Rams, snapping CSU's 20-match win streak in the process. Sylva Strzinkova recorded her league-leading 11th double-double of the season with 17 kills and 10 digs. The Utah win over Colorado State was the first since 1995. The Utes won their seventh straight in series play vs. the Cowgirls.
Wyoming -- The Cowgirls dropped a pair of MWC matches last week, falling to BYU and Utah. Sara Maytorena notched her eighth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 10 digs vs. Utah. Rachel Lau totaled 10 kills in each match last week and has topped double figure kills in 18 of 20 matches this season. The Cowgirls were without the services of sophomore starter Michele Rauter for the first time this season as she missed both matches last week.
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