Nov. 14, 2008
Box Score
EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP volleyball team fell to Tulane, 3-0, on Friday night at Memorial Gym.
“Tulane was really good tonight,” head coach Ken Murphy. “They executed their offense efficiently. Their hitters made smart choices and made it tough for us. We sided out very well during the first two games and we were one or two adjustments away from turning things around.
“We weren’t able to adjust the way we wanted during the third game and we lost a lot of momentum and confidence really fast. We knew coming in that Tulane would make good decisions and they can beat you with that.”
Tulane came into Friday night’s game having clinched a share of the Conference USA regular season title at 23-5 and 14-1 in league play. The Green Wave struggled to brush the Miners off in the first two sets as UTEP refused to give up big leads. Tulane took both sets 25-19 before clearing out the Miners 25-12 in the third. With the win Tulane earned its first C-USA regular season title in program history and the top seed in next week’s conference tournament.
Amy Sanders and Daidre Mendenhall notched nine kills each as the Miners closed out the 2008 home schedule. Sanders added six digs and Patty Jarmoc handed out 26 assists for the night.
“We’re looking forward to playing Tulane on Sunday,” Murphy added. “We know what we have to do different. We’ve got to play a solid match and keep our confidence to give ourselves a chance to beat them.”
The Miners will travel to New Orleans, La., to close out the regular season against Tulane on Sunday afternoon before heading to Memphis for the Conference USA Championships, Nov. 20-23.
