MWC Volleyball Tournament Preview

from the Provo Daily Herald

Women's Volleyball Home HEADLINES MWC Volleyball Scoreboard - Nov. 24, 2009 Mountain West Conference Volleyball Press Release Week No. 14 2009 Mountain West All-Conference Volleyball Team Announced RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college volleyball action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

Nov. 24, 1999

A look at the first-round matchups in the MWC volleyball tournament beginning today at BYU

Utah (20-8, 10-4) vs. SDSU (11-18, 4-10)

The Utes swept the season series. ... Utah is led by middle blocker McKelle Stilson, outside hitter Alisa Geddes and senior setter Graciela Torres-Lopes. ... Utah split last weekend, losing to CSU in four games and sweeping Wyoming in three. ... SDSU split last weekend, losing to New Mexico and beating Air Force.

Colorado State (25-2, 12-2) vs. UNLV (12-13, 4-10)

The Rebels are the team that cost CSU a share of the MWC title, as they beat the Rams 7-15, 15-13, 15-4, 16-14 in Las Vegas on Oct. 16. ... CSU avenged that loss on Nov. 11 with a 15-8, 15-8, 13-15, 15-4 victory. ... CSU dropped only 13 games in 14 conference matches this season. ... Angela Knopf leads the Rams in hitting percentage at .339, while Catie Vagneur averages 4.05 kills per game. ... Courtney Cox is not far behind at 3.96 kpg.

Air Force (17-11, 5-9) vs. New Mexico (10-21, 5-21)

Air Force is coming off losses to UNLV and SDSU last weekend, while New Mexico split those two matches, beating SDSU but losing to UNLV.

BYU (24-3, 13-1) vs. Wyoming (9-20, 3-11)

The Cougars swept the season series with the Cowgirls, winning 3-0 both times. ... BYU averages .285 team hitting percentage, 4.04 blocks per game and 15.78 kills per game as a team in conference matches. ... Wyoming averages .173 hitting percentage, 2.78 blocks and 13.28 kills per game. ... Sophomore middle blocker Nina Puikkonen, who was just named Player of the Year in the MWC, leads the Cougars and the conference in kills per game (4.33), blocks per game (1.95) and hitting percentage (.355). ... BYU's Caroline Bower and Anna-Lena Smith also made the team, as did Wyoming's Melody Friehauf.