Utes Lose Heartbreaker

Thursday, November 25

Provo, Utah (Mountain West Conference Tournament)

TBA

University of Utah

Colorado St.

11/26/1999 12:00 AM | Volleyball

Nov. 26, 1999

Box Score

Provo, Utah - With a dramatic come-from-behind win, Colorado State defeated Utah 3-2 (15-3, 10-15, 10-15, 15-13, 17-15) today in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship at the Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.

After falling behind two games to one and being two points away from elimination (13-7), the Rams came back to take game four 15-13. That led to the dramatic 17-15 finish in the rally-scored fifth game to give CSU the win and put it in the finals against the winner of the BYU-New Mexico match played later tonight.

The play of sophomore outside hitter Adrianne Bradley kept the Utes close throughout the match. Bradley led all hitters with a career-high 23 kills on .432 hitting while matching CSU?s Catie Vagneur and Allison Peckham with 13 digs. Lenka Urbanova saw her first action on the leftside for the Utes and collected a career-high 15 kills and 10 digs. McKelle Stilson posted 11 kills for a .241 hitting percentage and eight total blocks. Freshman Brenda Beal totaled 10 kills and nine total blocks, while Graciela Torres-Lopez added 53 assists, 11 digs and seven total blocks. As a team, the Utes hit for .218 in the match.

?The biggest thing is, I?m really, really proud of this team. It would have been very easy for us to come out and not play hard. We wanted to have a shot at Colorado State again and knew if we got past the first round, we probably would. We accomplished our goals and put ourselves in position to win this match, but came up a little short,? said Launiere.

The Rams were again led by their trio of All-Mountain West Conference players. First Team members Angela Knopf and Catie Vagneur led the team with 19 kills apiece while Second Team member Courtney Cox finished with 18. Knopf, a sophomore middle blocker, was the real story for Colorado State as she added 7 blocks and nine digs to her 19 kills and .400 hitting percentage.

Vagneur finished the night with a double-double, adding 13 digs to her 19 kills. Summer Jennings notched 17 kills and 10 blocks. Second Team All-Mountain West Conference setter Allison Peckham finished with 65 assists to go along with 13 digs and 5 blocks.