Standings take shape as final weekend of play approaches

The Mountain West Conference saw a lot of action this weekend.

While the standings haven’t changed, plenty of hard-fought matches

have occurred. Here’s a look at the volleyball standings around the

Mountain West.

CSU (21-4, 12-0)

The Rams remain atop the Mountain West Conference with an

unblemished record. Fifteenth-ranked CSU takes a break from

conference play to take on the University of Denver in Denver.

DU (16-12 overall, 7-6 in the Sun Belt Conference) clinched a

spot in the SBC Tournament by beating Louisiana-Lafayette Sunday

afternoon (30-24, 30-18, 30-20).

“For us this was an important win,” head coach Beth Kuwata

said.

They hope to bring that same domination into play against the

Rams.

Senior Andrea Baron, who tallied a match-high 12 points against

ULL, leads the Pioneers, along with fellow senior Olympia Hughes.

The Rams and the Pioneers take to the court tonight at 7 p.m. in

Hamilton Gym.

 

Wyoming (14-14, 3-9)

The Cowgirls continue to struggle both with conference and

non-conference games. This weekend Wyoming saw both CSU and Boise

State but couldn’t find the winning stroke for either game. After

battling CSU in a four-game match, the Cowgirls went to Idaho and

fell to the Broncos in four (24-30, 30-25, 29-31, 16-30).

Wyoming closes the regular season this weekend at home. The team

will take on the Lobos of New Mexico on Friday and Air Force on

Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

SDSU (17-11, 7-5)

The Aztecs boast a four-game winning streak after their victory

over New Mexico this weekend. (30-26, 30-22, 30-23) They hit .248

over the three games while holding the host Lobos to a .100

percentage. SDSU was also dominant at the net, compiling 12 team

blocks to five for New Mexico.

The win allowed them to clinch at least the number four seed in

the MWC. SDSU can finish as high as third in the final standings if

it wins its final two matches at home vs. Utah (Friday) and Brigham

Young (Saturday).

Air Force (13-13, 3-9)

Kristin Hamlett had a stellar night Friday for the Falcons. She

tallied 13 kills for her team, but the Falcons still couldn’t get a

win, losing in three games (30-20, 30-20, 30-27) to UNLV.

The Falcons close the regular season on the road visiting No. 15

Colorado State on Friday and Wyoming Saturday.

UNLV (10-14, 4-8)

It had been a long time coming, but the Rebels finally got a win

with a sweep of Air Force. The win snapped a nine-game losing

streak. Leiana Oswald led the Rebels with 14 kills and a .379

hitting percentage. She also tallied five digs and a pair of

blocks.

UNLV’s celebration could be short-lived as they have two tough

opponents this weekend. The team will play at home on Friday and

Saturday, taking on BYU and Utah. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.

New Mexico (4-22, 1-11)

Senior Anna Reines has been the bright spot for New Mexico this

season. In her last home match she collected 13 kills, hit .269,

had three digs, two blocks and a service ace for her team, but it

wasn’t enough. SDSU was too much for the Lobos as they fell in

three (30-26, 30-22, 30-23) on Saturday.

The Lobos are fighting for their second conference win this

weekend against Wyoming on Friday and CSU on Saturday.

 

Utah (16-7, 10-2)

The Utes defeated instate rival BYU in front of its biggest home

crowd of the season (30-19, 23-30, 30-23, 30-24), giving Utah its

seventh consecutive victory over the Cougars.

“This was such a hard-fought, completely even-played match by

both teams,” Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. The Utes hit for

.241 on the match and held the Cougars to .180.

Senior All-America candidate Kim Turner finished with 22 kills

with just three errors for a .543 hitting percentage. She also

added 13 digs, four blocks and an ace.

Utah closes the regular-season next Friday and Saturday, at San

Diego State and UNLV. Both matches start at 7 p.m.

 

BYU 18-7, 8-4

In an intense environment the Cougars couldn’t handle the

pressure against rival Utah. They lost in four games 30-19, 23-30,

30-24, 30-27, to the Utes.

“We made a lot of errors tonight and we made them at critical

times.” BYU coach Karen Lamb said.

Junior April Varner led BYU with 16 kills, and senior libero

Uila Crabbe became the sixth Cougar to record 1,000 career

digs.

The Cougars have to put the loss behind them when they visit

UNLV Friday and San Diego State Saturday.