MWC Sends Two To 2004 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament

No. 9 Colorado State to host first and second round matches

Melissa Courtney and the ninth-ranked Colorado State Rams open tournament play vs. Purdue at Moby Arena.
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Nov. 28, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee announced the field for the 2004 Women's Volleyball Championship today and Mountain West Conference members Colorado State and Utah were among the 64 teams. The ninth-ranked Rams earned the automatic bid after winning the 2004 MWC Volleyball Championship, while the 19th-ranked Utes were an at-large selection.

The top 16 teams were seeded nationally and placed within four regions. The teams tabbed as the top four seeds were Nebraska, Penn State, Hawaii and Minnesota.

Colorado State, which advanced to the Sweet 16 four of the past five seasons, makes its 16th overall and 10th straight NCAA appearance. CSU enters the NCAA Tournament with a 26-3 record. The Rams, 15-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, will host first and second round action, opening with Purdue (16-14) in the first round on Thursday, Dec. 2. The winner of the Rams vs. Boilermakers match will face No. 3 seed (No. 1) Hawaii (28-0) or Colorado (14-13) in the second round.

Utah will be making its seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The Utes, 6-6 overall in NCAA Tournaments, travel to Los Angeles, Calif., for the first and second rounds. Utah (24-6) opens play vs. Long Beach State (23-6) on Friday, Dec. 3. No. 15 seed (16th-ranked) UCLA (18-10) or Loyola Marymount (17-11) will meet the winner of the Utes vs. 49ers match. The Utes have won nine of their last 12 matches entering this year's tournament with all three losses coming to top-10 opponents (twice to Colorado State and once to top-ranked Hawaii).

Teams winning both early round matches will move on to regional play Dec. 9-12 at pre-determined sites (Louisville, Ky., Minneapolis, Minn., Seattle, Wash. and Green Bay, Wis.). The regional winners will advance to the semifinals and final hosted by Long Beach State University at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Calif., Dec. 16 and 18.