Nov. 19, 2004
Final Stats
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - In a match filled with lead changes and dominated by momentum shifts, Utah had the last one as UNLV lost a gut-wrenching five-game match to the Utes in the semifinals Friday afternoon of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Utah scored eight of the final nine points in the deciding fifth game, surviving the upset bid of the Rebels, who despite hitting just .096 for the match, scraped and fought to take the match to five before losing 27-30, 35-33, 30-22, 21-30 and 11-15 at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo.
"Mentally we all knew we could beat them," said senior setter Nicki King. "It was just a matter of taking advantage of the situation and we didn't."
The deciding fifth game opened with a kill by UNLV sophomore middle Lauren Miramontes, who was then involved in two blocks to make the score 3-1. UNLV pushed the margin to three at 10-7 on a kill by Mariana Pencheva, giving the Rebels their biggest lead. In what would be the theme for the entire match, Utah battled back with a six-point run to take its first lead of the final game at 13-10. UNLV freshman Brittani Lumsden ended the run with a kill, her 14th of the match, but it was too little too late, as the Utes scored the next two points to close out the match.
UNLV ended the season with a 15-12 overall record, 8-6 in league play to earn the fourth-seed heading into this weekend's tournament. The 15-12 record was the first winning season since 1998 for the Rebels (23-8). Top-seeded and No. 19-ranked Utah improved to 23-4, advancing to Saturday's championship game at 2:00 p.m. (PST).
"We had a great season and laid the foundation for the future," said UNLV first-year head coach Allison Keeley. "I am happy with the game and how our team played, except for the outcome."
There were seven lead changes and nine ties throughout the beginning of game one, with the final tie coming at 16-16 off a kill by Rebel outside hitter Tarin Keith, as both teams struggled passing and hitting the ball early on. Utah broke the tie on a kill from Kelsie Kartchner and then with Kartchner serving, the Utes reeled off six more points to grab a 23-16 lead. The margin grew to 28-19, and the Utes appeared on their way to an easy game one win. UNLV had other ideas, as the Rebels rattled off eight straight points to close the gap to 28-27. After a Ute timeout, Kartchner stopped the run with a kill and then Utah won the game on a hitting error by Keith.
"Momentum is the game of volleyball," Keith said. "Little errors can totally change the game. One point here and one point there, and there goes your lead."
Although the Rebels lost the opening game, they carried the momentum from their late game one run into the second game.
UNLV opened game two with a 9-4 lead, with two kills from Keith. The lead would grow to 20-14 on a kill from Pencheva and UNLV continued to exchange points with Utah before a kill from Ashley Flahaven made the score 27-22.
But as in game one, when the Rebels were seemingly put away, the Utes would mount a comeback of their own. Behind the strong serving of Kartchner once again, Utah scored six-straight points, with four of those coming on kills by Shelly Summerfeldt, to grab a 28-27 lead. Two straight kills from Keith gave the lead back to the Rebels at 29-28. UNLV couldn't put the game away however, and Utah pulled back ahead 31-30 on a kill from Lyndsey Henderson.
The scrappy Rebels then fought off three consecutive game points and tied the game at 33 on a kill from Miramontes. UNLV would then win the game-two marathon on two consecutive hitting errors by Utah, knotting the match at one game each as the teams headed into intermission. Game two's final score of 35-33 was the highest scoring single-game in MWC Tournament history.
Utah started game three with three points, and the two teams battled to a 13-13 tie before UNLV took the pivotal middle game over. The Rebels scored 15 of the next 19 points to blow the game open at 28-17. Lumsden knocked down four kills during the run and the Rebels benefited from eight Ute errors. Lumsden ended the match with two kills sandwiched around four Ute points.
Game four didn't differ from the previous three with both teams battling each other for every point and neither team gaining much of an advantage. With the score tied at 17, Utah's defense started to establish itself. The Utes blocked six balls in game four alone, including three straight by Amie Toone during a four-point run that ended game four. Utah finished the match with 22 blocks, compared to just nine from UNLV.
"It gets really frustrating when you get up high and hit the ball well and you still get stuffed blocked," Lumsden said. "It is the worst feeling ever and it changes the momentum of the game."
Lumsden dug up 21 balls to go along with her 14 kills, finishing the match with her tenth double-double of the season. King, playing in her final match as a Rebel, also recorded her tenth double-dip of the season with 54 assists and 15 digs. She missed her second triple-double by two kills, finishing with eight. Keith closed her UNLV career with 13 kills. Jada Walker dug up 20 balls for the UNLV defense and the Rebels and the Utes each dug up 96 balls as a team, a MWC tournament record.
Henderson and Summerfeldt each had 17 kills for the Utes while Kartchner handed out 33 assists and served three aces.
