COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced today the field for the 2001 Women's Volleyball Championship and Mountain West Conference members BYU, Colorado State, Utah and San Diego State were among the 64 teams.

The MWC was one of just five conferences to send four or more teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Big 12 led all conferences with eight teams selected. The Big Ten, and Pacific-10 conferences each placed six teams in the field, followed by the Mountain West and Big West conferences with four.

The ninth-ranked Rams, who made it to the Sweet 16 each of the past two seasons, make their 13th overall and sixth straight NCAA appearance and are seeded No. 15. Colorado State, 11-12 all-time in the Tournament, will host the First and Second Rounds at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, opening with Baylor Friday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. MST. Colorado battles American in the 6 p.m. match at Moby Arena. The two winners play Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

BYU, a Sweet 16 team the past five years, makes its 20th overall and 11th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 19th-ranked Cougars, one of only eight teams with 19 NCAA appearances, will play Utah State Thursday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. MST in Salt Lake City. BYU has an all-time record of 26-19 in NCAA Tournaments with one Final Four appearance (1993).

Utah, a No. 14 seed, will host the NCAA First and Second Rounds at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, beginning with a match vs. Texas Tech Thursday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. MST. The 13th-ranked Utes will be making their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance after earning the MWC automatic bid by winning the conference tournament Nov. 17. Utah, 3-3 overall in NCAA Tournaments, would meet BYU for the fourth time this season if both teams win their respective NCAA First Round matches.

San Diego State makes its first NCAA appearance since 1996 and opens play vs. No. 1 seed and top-ranked Long Beach State in Long Beach, Calif., Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. PST. The winner of the SDSU vs. LBSU match takes on the winner of Friday's Santa Barbara vs. San Diego match on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. The Aztecs are 15-12 in 12 NCAA appearances.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE NCAA PAIRINGS

BYU -- The Cougars are 0-1 vs. Big West Conference member Utah State this season, but BYU defeated the Aggies in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament last year after losing to USU in the regular season. The overall series is 45-10 in favor of BYU. Should BYU defeat Utah State, it would face the winner of the Utah vs. Texas Tech match. The Cougars are 1-2 vs. the Utes this season and 1-1 overall vs. the Big West. BYU has not played the Red Raiders since 1998 and the overall series is tied at 2-2.

Colorado State -- The Rams open the NCAA Tournament vs. Big XII member Baylor, which marks the first meeting between the schools. The Rams could face Colorado or American in the Second Round. Last year, the Buffaloes pushed CSU to five games before the Rams moved on to the Sweet 16. CSU defeated Colorado in three games earlier this season, but the Buffs took BYU and Utah to five games this season before losing both matches. CSU is 15-10 all-time vs. CU and 1-0 vs. American.

San Diego State -- The Aztecs return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996, and they open vs. the nation's best in Big West Conference power Long Beach State, marking the first meeting between the schools since 1999. SDSU leads the all-time series vs. LBSU 23-17, but is 1-4 vs. the 49ers in the last four meetings. SDSU is 1-1 vs. San Diego and 0-1 vs. Santa Barbara this season.

Utah -- The Utes host the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history, but open against Texas Tech for the second straight year. Last season, Utah held on for a five-game win in the First Round vs.the Red Raiders. The Utes defeated Texas Tech in Salt Lake City earlier this season in four games and hold an all-time series lead of 7-2. Utah is familiar with its potential Second Round matchup after defeating Utah State once and BYU twice during the 2001 season.