The Ricks men’s volleyball team took first place at the Mountain West Conference Championship in Greeley, Colorado.
On day one of matches, both Ricks Blue and White won with undefeated records in pool play, facing teams like U.S. Air Force Academy, Utah State University, Utah Tech University and more.
Ricks Blue maintained a #1 seed going into single elimination playoffs while Ricks White ranked at #14. With the brackets set, Ricks Blue played Colorado Springs while Ricks White played Utah State University A.
As the first match began, Ricks White kept up with Utah State A, keeping the match tied the whole way until Ricks White gained a two-point lead, forcing a timeout at 23-21.
Coming out of the timeout, Utah State A rallied for the next few points, tying the match up at 24-24. After a couple of long rallies, Utah State A finished the first set, 26-24, taking the lead in the match.
Although the second set was close, Ricks White fell short; losing the match 25-20 in the second set and were eliminated from championship contention.
On the other side of the bracket, Ricks Blue defeated Colorado Springs in a clean two-set sweep and then played Colorado Mines A. Although a closer match than the previous, Ricks Blue pulled off the sweep, advancing to the semi-finals against Utah Valley University.
After the first serve, Utah Valley University took control of the match, handing Ricks Blue its first set loss of the entire tournament. Being down a set, Ricks Blue rallied back, winning set two with an ace off of Isaac Ditlevsen.
“It was definitely a stressful match, but I’m just glad I could have contributed the way that I did,” Ditlevsen said.
With the momentum shifting, Ricks Blue finished the match with a win, advancing to the finals against Utah State University A.
In the finals, Utah State won a decisive first set, 25-20, taking the lead in the match. After losing the first set, Ricks Blue rallied back and took the second set 25-22. With a third final set to decide the match, Ricks Blue came back after being down 14-12 to win the championship 16-14.
With the season coming to a close, Ricks Blue finished first in conference play while Ricks White finished #14 overall in the Mountain West Conference.