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MWC Weekly Court Notes
NCAA selections scheduled for Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNews.
Nov. 25, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Following this week's competition, the Mountain West Conference teams will await the at-large selection announcements to the 2003 NCAA Tournament. Colorado State earned the MWC automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the MWC conference tournament last week. The NCAA selections are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPNews. In the first four years of the league's existence, four teams (BYU, Colorado State, San Diego State, Utah) have earned invitations to the NCAA Tournament with three advancing to the Sweet 16. BYU has made it to the NCAAs 20 of the past 22 years. Utah has five straight NCAA appearances, while CSU will make its ninth straight appearance this season. SDSU has made four NCAA appearances in the last 10 years. Overall, the MWC has a 14-12 record in NCAA Tournaments since the league was formed in 1999. FIRSTS FOR THE RAMS This year's Colorado State squad is the first to go unbeaten in the MWC regular season (14-0) and the first No. 1 seed to win the conference tournament. In the process, the Rams have a record 17 straight victories vs. MWC teams. 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. The No. 3 seed won the conference tournament last year, while the No. 2 seed had won the three prior to 2002. ACADEMIC HONORS A record six MWC volleyball student-athletes garnered CoSIDA Academic All-America District honors, including three first-team selections. Utah senior Kim Turner was a District VIII first-team selection, while Air Force senior Delavane Diaz and Wyoming junior Amy Doman were first-team honors in District VII. Turner, Diaz and Doman will be forwarded to the national Academic All-America ballot. New Mexico junior Adah Burke was a second-team honoree in District VI and UNLV senior Leiana Oswald was second-team in District VIII. BYU junior Lindsey Metcalf made third-team in District VIII. MWC POSTS 67-44 MARK IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY The MWC is 67-44 in non-conference play, including victories over four ranked opponents. This season, San Diego State defeated then-No. 10 Arizona and then-No. 18 San Diego, Utah defeated then-No. 18 Missouri and BYU defeated then-No. 8 Penn State. The Mountain West Conference has a four-year record of 334-242 (.580) vs. non-conference opponents. HOME COURT ADVANTAGE MWC teams posted a 28-9 home record this season vs. non-conference opponents, but the MWC was just 31-25 on the home court in league matches. "A" FOR ATTENDANCE Seven MWC schools have topped 1,000 fans for a single match this season: Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV, Utah and Wyoming. The Utes were recently added to the list with 1,320 on hand for the BYU match Nov. 7. BYU and Colorado State are among the top 25 nationally for attendance. DIAZ, REINES, TURNER SET MWC KILL RECORDS Air Force senior Delavane Diaz set the Air Force and MWC all-time single-match records for kills with 41 vs. Southern Miss (9/13/03). Diaz also set the single season kills per game mark with 4.93 in MWC matches. New Mexico senior Anna Reines racked up a school- and MWC record (conference only matches) 36 kills vs. Wyoming Nov. 14. Utah senior Kim Turner posted 231 kills in conference play, edging Michele Rauter's (Wyoming) MWC season record of 230 kills in 2002. QUICK HITS Air Force -- The Falcons closed out the season at 4-10 in the MWC and 14-15 overall after falling to BYU in the first round of the MWC Championship last week. Senior Delavane Diaz garnered several honors in her final season with the Falcons. Diaz led the MWC in kills 13 straight weeks and her 4.93 average in league matches is an MWC record for single season kills per game. Diaz was named All-MWC and CoSIDA Academic All-District, and picked up a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for the fall of 2004. The Tampa, Fla., native is one of 32 U.S. citizens who will take post-graduate degree courses at the University of Oxford in England. BYU -- The Cougars are now 21-8 overall after posting a 1-1 mark at the MWC Championship last week. Sophomore Lauren Richards tied the MWC Tournament single-match record with eight aces vs. Air Force in a first round match. The Cougars advanced to the semifinals for the fifth straight year, but fell to Utah. Three Cougars, Richards, Uila Crabbe and Carrie Bowers, earned All-MWC honors, while Lindsy Hartsock was named MWC Freshman of the Year. BYU hosts Utah State and Eastern Michigan this week and will look to make its 21st NCAA appearance when selections are announced Nov. 30. Colorado State -- The Rams have now won 20 straight matches after winning the MWC Championship last week. CSU also stretched its streak to 17 straight victories over MWC opponents after going unbeaten (14-0) in regular season conference play and posting a 3-0 mark in the tournament. Sophomore Tess Rogers was named MWC Tournament MVP, while Becky Sarauer, Melissa Courtney and Bri Frech were named all-tournament. Rogers set the MWC Tournament record with 61 kills in three matches. As a team, the Rams recorded a tournament record .355 hitting efficiency in tournament matches. CSU visits Long Beach State this week before heading to the NCAA Tournament for its ninth straight NCAA appearance. New Mexico -- The Lobos fell to No. 1 seed Colorado State in the first round of the MWC Championship, but not before pushing the Rams to four games. Senior Anna Reines led the Lobos with 14 kills vs. the Rams, while sophomore Chelsea Sondrup added 13 kills and three aces. Reines closed out her senior season ranked fourth in the MWC with 3.77 kills per game. San Diego State -- The Aztecs posted a 1-1 mark at the MWC Championship last week, defeating UNLV and falling to No. 1 seed Colorado State in five games, marking the third straight year the host team did not make it to the title match. Senior Aspen McPartland was named to the MWC all-tournament team after averaging 3.75 kills per game and hitting .431 in two matches. McPartland was also named to her second straight MWC all-conference team and was joined by teammate Megan Schauermann. Schauermann led the MWC in blocks per game with 1.56, while McPartland ranked fifth at 1.21 bpg. As a team, the Aztecs ranked in the top 10 nationally most of the season for blocks. UNLV -- The Rebels lost in three games to SDSU at the MWC Championship last week. Senior Leiana Oswald, who earned all-conference honors, averaged a tournament-high 6.0 kills per game after recording 18 vs. the Aztecs. Oswald was one of only three MWC players to average over 4.0 kills per game this season as she ranked third in the MWC with 4.13 kpg. Senior Sheila Ocasio-Clemente is 10th in the MWC with 1.13 blocks per game. The Rebels host the UNLV Thanksgiving Classic this week and will battle Kentucky and Weber State to close out the regular season. Utah -- Utah made it to the MWC Championship finals for the third straight year, but lost a hard-fought match to the No. 1 seed Colorado State Rams. The Utes closed out MWC play with their best league record in school history at 12-2 and reached 20 wins for the eighth straight year. Senior Kim Turner stretched her block streak to 122 straight matches with a block and tied the all-time school record for kills with 1,565. Turner ranked second in the MWC this season in blocks (1.49), kills (4.22) and hitting efficiency (.359). Turner, who earned MWC Co-Player of the Year honors for the second straight year, is the only four-time all-conference and all-tournament honoree in MWC history. Shelly Sommerfeldt and Jackie Morrill joined Turner with all-conference and all-tournament accolades.
Wyoming -- The Cowgirls fell to Utah at the MWC Championship last week. Freshman Andrea Seele led Wyoming with nine kills vs. the Utes, while senior Michele Rauter and junior Sara Maytorena each added eight kills. Maytorena extended her streak to 61 straight matches with at least one block. Rauter closed out her career ranked fifth on the MWC career list with 1,377 kills. Rauter ranked sixth with 3.73 kills per game this season despite battling injury. For the first time in her career, junior Amy Doman was selected as a First Team Academic All-District VII team honoree.
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