BYU to Host Inaugural Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championships

PROVO -- BYU will host the first Mountain West Conference women's volleyball championship tournament this week in the Smith Fieldhouse.

The tournament begins Wednesday, when third seed Utah (20-8, 10-4) takes on sixth place San Diego State (11-18, 4-10) at 11:30 a.m. Next will be second seed Colorado State (25-2, 12-2) facing seventh seed UNLV (12-13, 4-10) at 2 p.m., followed by No. 4 seed Air Force (17-11, 5-9) against No. 5 New Mexico (10-21, 5-21) at 4:30 p.m. The day's action will be topped off with No. 1 seed BYU (24-3, 13-1) playing host to the eighth seeded Wyoming Cowgirls (9-20, 3-11) at 7 p.m.

The winners of the first two matches will then meet Friday at 4:30 p.m., with the other two teams going to battle that night at 7 p.m. The championship match will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. Both Friday's late match and the championship match will be broadcast on KBYU television.

After dropping an early-season match to Colorado State, BYU avenged the loss in four games Saturday evening in Provo to claim the first regular season Mountain West Conference Championship and earn the top seed for the conference tournament. BYU ended the regular season ranked first in the conference in hitting percentage and blocks, while individual players Nina Puikkonen and Anna-Lena Smith lead the conference in blocks and assists, respectively.

Practices for all eight teams will take place Tuesday between noon and 6 p.m. and are open to the public. Tickets for the tournament may be purchased in a package or by single match by contacting the Marriott Center ticket office at (801) 378-TEAM. Tickets may also be purchased at the gate once the tournament begins. The all-tournament ticket package is $10 for adults, $6 for seniors/students and $4 for children ages 3-12. Single match tickets are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors/students and $3 for children ages 3-12.