Swept! CSU overpowers BYU for volleyball crown
Deseret News 28Nov99 S3
By Jeff Call: Deseret News sports writer

PROVO, UTAH -- BYU's women's volleyball team, champions of the Mountain West Conference's inaugural season, were swept by Colorado State in the Mountain West Conference tournament championship, held at BYU on Saturday. Surprisingly, the tournament wasn't the close five-game battle many expected, but a wipe-out, with CSU beating BYU 15-8, 15-8, 15-12. The loss snapped the Cougars' 28-match home win streak and placed in doubt just who is the best team in the MWC.

Before the match, the Cougars were ranked No. 9 in the nation and the Colorado State Rams were ranked No. 12. CSU players said that BYU had too easy a schedule in getting to the tournament championship, "I felt everything seemed too easy for them," said CSU outside hitter Catie Vagneur. "We were one step ahead of them." BYU's coach Elaine Michaelis blamed the loss on the teams failure to follow their plan, "We did not carry out our game plan at all. Our serve-receive game was really bad. (CSU) didn't have to move to pass the ball. We didn't block or play defense the way we were supposed to. They were mixing up their serves a lot. They were serving us short, deep, inside and outside. We didn't even have a chance to run our offense."

But Michaelis isn't concerned about the affect on BYU's seeding in the upcoming NCAA tournament. "Maybe (CSU) will get to go to Penn State instead of us," she said, referring the Cougars elimination by Penn State in the past two tournaments. NCAA tournament play begins December 2nd.