Nov. 19, 2006

LAS VEGAS - For the second straight year the Cox Pavilion will be the final destination for all nine Mountain West Conference volleyball teams with hopes of winning the 2006 MWC Tournament. The tournament begins on Nov. 22nd and runs through the 25th. A "play-in" match featuring the 8th-seed New Mexico Lobos and 9th-seed Air Force Falcons will kick off action on Wednesday, Nov. 22nd, while the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 25th will conclude the week's action.

Las Vegas becomes the first city to host the tournament in back-to-back years, after having the championship decided in locales such as: Provo, Utah (1999 and 2001); Fort Collins, Colo. (2000, `02 and `04); and San Diego, Calif. (2003).

UNLV greatly helped itself by winning its final three matches of the regular season to earn the #4-seed. The wins guaranteed the Rebels a fourth-place regular season finish for the third straight year. UNLV will play the 5th-seeded Wyoming Cowgirls at 4:00 pm on Thursday.

The 9th-ranked Utah Utes were crowned the MWC's regular season champions by virtue of UNLV's 3-2 victory over Colorado State on Nov. 12th. By winning the regular season, Utah earned the top-seed and will face the winner of the "play-in" match 40-minutes after the conclusion of the UNLV-Wyoming contest.

Thursday's quarterfinal action will begin with the third-seeded Colorado State taking on the sixth-seeded TCU Horned Frogs at 11:00 am.

BYU comes to Las Vegas as the #2-seed after defeating Colorado State this weekend. The 20th-ranked Cougars will face the seventh-seeded San Diego State Aztecs 40-minutes after CSU-TCU ends.

MWC Tournament ScheduleWednesday, Nov. 22:  Play-In Match:  #8 New Mexcio vs. #9 TCU, 3:30 pm
Thursday, Nov. 23:   Match #1:  #3 Colorado State vs. #6 TCU, 11:00 am                     Match #2:  #2 BYU vs. #7 San Diego State, 40 mins. after Match #1                     Match #3:  #4 UNLV vs. #5 Wyoming, 4:00 pm                     Match #4:  #1 Utah vs. #8/9 "Play-In" winner, 40 mins. after Match #3
Friday, Nov. 24:     Match #5:  Winners of Match #1 and Match #2, 1:30 pm                     Match #6:  Winners of Match #3 and Match #4, 4:00 pmSaturday, Nov. 25:   Match #7:  Championship Match, Winners of Match #5 and Match #6, 8:00 pm

On Friday, Nov. 24th, the MWC welcomes all students from sixth through eighth grade to "Junior Volleyball Day" at the Cox Pavilion. The event will take place at the Cox Pavilion on at 11:00 am. All participants will have an opportunity to meet the student-athletes in person and learn sport tips and skills directly from them. In addition to the clinic, all the participants will be given free admission to Friday's Semifinal matches. For more information contact Tim Tesar at the MWC at 719.487.2461 or at ttesar@themwc.com.

MWC Junior Volleyball Day Flyer in PDF Format
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For those wishing to attend the MWC Tournament, ticket prices are as follows:

All Session PassAdult = $25Youth (ages 3-12) = $15Senior (ages 50 and up) = $15
Single Day TicketsAdult = $7Youth = $5Senior = $5

Tickets are available online at unlvtickets.com or by calling 702.739.3267.