COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Two Mountain West programs are set to dance in the 2023 NCAA Volleyball Tournament after Utah State, the MW regular-season champion, and Fresno State, the 2023 MW Tournament Champion, earned bids to the postseason tournament.
This marks the second year in a row and 15th time in league history that the Mountain West has had multiple bids in the NCAA tournament.
Fresno State earned the automatic bid for the Mountain West, defeating Colorado State in the MW championship match in a thrilling five-set battle. The Bulldogs are set to make their first ever NCAA tournament appearance with first-year head coach Leisa Rosen. The program concluded the season with a 19-13 overall record and a 10-8 Conference record and will go head-to head with No. 1 seed Stanford at 7 p.m. PT on Friday, Dec. 1 in Stanford, California.
For the Bulldogs, Brooke Cowie averages 9.8 assists per set, while recording a total of 696 assists on the offensive side. Defensively, MW Freshman of the Year Dionii Fraga averages 4.14 digs per set and has recorded a total of 455 digs in her rookie season.
The Aggies ended the regular season with a 24-6 overall record and a Conference record of 17-1, as well as capturing the MW regular-season title. Utah State received an at-large bid and is the No. 6 seed in the national tournament and will take on Minnesota on Friday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. CT in Omaha, Nebraksa. This will be the Aggies second consecutive year to dance on the national court, led by Mountain West Coach of the Year Rob Neilson.
Offensively for the Aggies, Tatum Stall and Shelby Capllonch are in the MW top-10 for kills on the season with 278, (3.2 kills per set) and 336 kills (3.14 kills per set), respectively. Defensively, Kambree Rodriguez has posted 3.25 digs per set average and recorded a total of 331 digs on the season.
