2007 MWC VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP ON TAP
The 2007 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship will be held Nov. 21-24 at Cox Pavilion on the
campus of UNLV.
The championship will open with a first-round match Wednesday, Nov. 21. The opening match pits No. 8 seed
San Diego State (12-15, 4-12 MWC) taking on the No. 9 seed Air Force (7-23, 0-16 MWC) at 3:30 p.m. (PT), with the
winner advancing to the quarterfinals. Thursday's quarterfinal round will see No. 3 seed BYU (20-6, 12-4 MWC)
vs. No. 6 seed New Mexico (16-12, 7-9 MWC) at 11 a.m. (PT), followed by second-seeded UNLV (21-5, 12-4 MWC)
and seventh-seeded Wyoming (12-13, 6-10 MWC), 40 minutes after the conclusion of the BYU/New Mexico match.
No. 4 TCU (22-11, 9-7 MWC) vs. No. 5 Utah (13-14, 9-7 MWC) and top-seeded and 20th-ranked Colorado State (21-
6, 13-3 MWC) vs. the winner of No. 8 San Diego State/No. 9 Air Force will wrap up quarterfinal play at 4 p.m.
(PT) and 40 minutes after the end of the third match, respectively. The quarterfinal winners will advance to the
semifinals on Friday, Nov. 23 at 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. (PT). The championship match will take place Saturday, Nov.
24 at 8 p.m. (PT).
FIRST ROUND/QUARTERFINAL MWC CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
Nov. 21 (Wednesday)
#8 San Diego State vs. #9 Air Force, 3:30 p.m.
San Diego State and Air Force meet in the MWC Tournament for the first time. The Falcons will be looking
for their first-ever win in MWC Championship play. Last season, the Aztecs appeared in the semifinals for
the first time since 2003.
Nov. 22 (Thursday)
#3 BYU vs. #6 New Mexico, 11 a.m. (The Mtn.)
The Cougars are 60-9 all time vs. the Lobos. BYU and New Mexico meet in the MWC tournament for the
second time. The Cougars defeated UNM, 3-0, in the semifinal round of the 1999 tournament. The 2000
tournament champion BYU, a No. 3 seed for the fourth time, is 12-7 all-time in MWC Tournaments, while
New Mexico is 2-8.
#2 UNLV vs. #7 Wyoming, 40 minutes after the end of BYU/UNM (The Mtn.)
UNLV has the lead in the all-time series, 15-11, and swept both regular season meetings with Wyoming in
2007. UNLV and Wyoming meet for the second consecutive year and third time overall in MWC
Tournament play. The Rebels won last year's meeting, 3-0. UNLV is 4-8 all-time in the MWC Championship,
while Wyoming has an all-time mark of 0-8.
#4 TCU vs. #5 Utah, 4 p.m. (The Mtn.)
Utah leads the all-time series 7-2, with both losses to TCU coming this season. The Utes and Horned Frogs
are meeting in the MWC Tournament for the first time. Utah is 17-5 all-time in MWC Tournament play,
while TCU is 1-2 after competing in its second MWC Championship in 2006. The Utes are three-time MWC
Tournament champions (2000, 2002, 2005), having advanced to the championship match six times (3-3).
#1 (20) Colorado State vs. Winner of #8 SDSU/#9 AFA, 40 minutes after the end of TCU/Utah (The Mtn.)
Colorado State leads the all-time series vs. San Diego State, 23-14, and holds a 28-1 all-time advantage vs. Air
Force. The four-time and defending tournament champion Rams are 17-4 all-time in the MWC Tournament.
Colorado State is the No. 1 seed for the fourth time, and is looking to advance to the finals for the fourth time
in five years.
MWC CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE TELEVISED
The 2007 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship will be televised, with The Mtn. -
MountainWest Sports Network and CSTV providing the coverage. All four of Thursday's quarterfinal matches
and Friday's first semifinal contest will be shown live on The Mtn., with the second semifinal to be shown via
same-day tape delay at 7:00 p.m. (PT). For the fourth straight season, the MWC Tournament championship
match will be broadcast live nationally on CSTV. The 2007 MWC Volleyball Championship will be held Nov.
21-24 at Cox Pavilion on the campus of UNLV.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SELECTION SHOW
The 2007 Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Selection Announcement Show will be shown live
Sunday, November 25 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPNU as a 30-minute program.
ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT HONORS
Six MWC volleyball student-athletes were named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Women's Volleyball Academic
All-District Team, announced November 8 by the College Sports Information Directors of Amercia (CoSIDA).
TCU's Calli Corley, an international marketing major, was named to the District VI third-team, while Air Force
senior Kim Kallabis (mathematics, operations research) and Wyoming senior Angie Hellbaum (communications)
were named second and third-team District VII, respectively. Utah junior Kathryn Haynie (pre-pharmacy) and
UNLV sophomore Jessica Walters (journalism) were both first-team honorees for District VIII, while senior
Kristen Castillo (nursing) earned District VIII third-team honors. All first-team honorees will be placed on the
national ballot for Academic All-America.
MWC IN NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL RPI
Mountain West Conference volleyball has five of nine institutions ranked in the top-60 in the latest ratings
percentage index (RPI) report released by the NCAA on Wednesday, November 7. Three MWC schools earned
spots in the top-25.
No. 17 Colorado State, 25th-ranked UNLV and BYU each rank in the top-25 of the RPI report, while Utah and New
Mexico placed in the top-60. The Rams are 13th on the list, while UNLV and BYU rank 17th and 23rd, respectively,
followed by Utah (54th) and New Mexico (60th). TCU rounds out the conference schools ranked in the top-70,
coming in at 69th.
WYOMING'S RACHEL SMITH BREAKS SCHOOL KILLS RECORD
With 14 kills vs. Air Force on November 16, Wyoming senior Rachel Smith moved into first place all-time in
school history with 1,538 career kills. Smith overtook Wyoming Hall of Famer Ronda Munger, who played for the
Cowgirls from 1984-87, and had 1,536 career kills. Smith's career kill total also ranks fourth in MWC history.
UNLV'S JADAWALKER LEADS MWC IN ALL-TIME DIGS
UNLV senior Jada Walker took over the all-time MWC digs lead last week. Walker, who currently has 1,944 career
digs, passed San Diego State senior Aime Cordeiro, who has 1,943 digs for her career.
Current MWC players hold five of the top-six spots on the career digs list, as Utah senior Connie Dangerfield is
third (1,512 digs), TCU senior Calli Corley is fourth (1,335 digs) and New Mexico junior Gayle Tripp is sixth
(1,117).
CSU'S MEKANA BARNES NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THEWEEK
Colorado State junior middle blocker Mekana Barnes was named Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National
Player of the Week for the week of September 4. Barnes is the sixth MWC volleyball player to earn Sports
Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week honors since the inception of the Conference in 1999, and
the first since former Ram Melissa Courtney (2001-04) won the award on Nov. 22, 2004.
MWC QUICK HITS
AIR FORCE -- Air Force lost to Wyoming, 0-3, in its only match of the week...Freshman Caroline Kurtz led
the Falcons with eight kills...As a team, the Falcons accounted for seven total blocks (one solo, 12 assisted).
BYU -- Junior Bryn Porter tied a career-high with 17 kills vs. San Diego State...Senior Chelsea
Goodman had a season-best 23 kills vs. then-No. 25 UNLV, while fellow senior Erica Lott had a
career-best 20 digs...As a team, BYU had a season-high 89 digs to set a new Cougar record for digs in
a four-game rally-scoring match.
COLORADO STATE -- Colorado State clinched its fifth outright MWC regular-season title (sixth overall) with
its win at New Mexico...Juniors Jaime Strauss (19 kills) and Mekana Barnes (13 kills), and senior Tonya
Mokelki (12 kills) had double-figure kills vs. the Lobos... CSU had 15 team blocks vs. UNM, with sophomore
Tessa Nelson assisting on nine.
NEW MEXICO -- Junior Gayle Tripp moved into second place on the UNM career digs list with six vs.
Colorado State last week...She now has 1,117 digs in her career, which also ranks sixth in MWC history...The
Lobos had eight consecutive home crowds of over 1,000 fams to end the regular season, including a seasonhigh
1,506 vs. CSU.
SAN DIEGO STATE -- Freshman Lauren Salisbury recorded her first career double-double with 12 kills and
10 block assists vs. BYU...Her block assist total was a career-best and tied for the top mark on the squad this
year...The Aztecs totaled just 30 kills in a three-game loss to Utah.
TCU -- TCU upset then-No. 17 Colorado State in five games last week, securing the No. 4 seed in this week's
MWC Tournament...The Horned Frogs' win over CSU was their first-ever over a ranked opponent...Junior
Nirelle Hampton tallied a career-high 25 digs...Hampton also had three aces, which moved her into second
all-time on the TCU career aces chart...Freshman Christy Hudson recorded her third double-double with 10
kills and 10 assists, while sophomore Lauren Otto finished with 16 kills and 13 digs for her 11th doubledouble
of the season.
UNLV -- UNLV's loss at Utah snapped a 10-match winning streak, while the Rebels' loss to BYU
marked the first time this season they have lost consecutive matches...UNLV got double-doubles
from seniors Maria Aladjova (15 kills, 12 digs) and Brittani Lumsden (12 kills, 17 digs), and junior
Melody Nua (63 assists, 12 digs) vs. BYU.
UTAH -- The Utes held then-No. 25 UNLV to a .144 hitting percentage...The Rebels came into the game with
a .253 team hitting percentage...Utah has won 10 straight home matches over UNLV dating back to
1997...Senior Connie Dangerfield had a season-best 29 digs vs. UNLV...The Utes hit a season-high .393 vs.
San Diego State.
WYOMING -- Wyoming swept Air Force, 3-0, in its only match last week...The Cowgirls have now defeated
the Falcons eight straight times...Head Coach Pat Stangle is now 8-0 all-time vs. AFA...With 14 kills vs. Air
Force, senior Rachel Smith moved into first place all-time in school history with 1,538 career kills...Her 431
kills this season currently ranks sixth on the single-season list in school history.
