Oct. 17, 2014
Final Stats
EL PASO, Texas – The UTEP volleyball team falls to the Rice Owls, 3-0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-18) on Friday night in Memorial Gym.
UTEP is now 4-15 overall, and 2-6 in Conference USA as Rice moves to 16-5 and 6-1 in C-USA.
Freshman Coline Coessens paced the Miners’ offense with a team-high 15 kills while pitching in 6 digs and a solo and assisted block. Sophomore Lindsey Larson aided UTEP’s offense with 28 assists while fellow classmen Sarah Villa led the team with 13 digs.
Rice opened the match with a 10-5 lead over UTEP. The Owls would extend their lead to 23-18, before a dominating kill by Coessens would spark a 4-1 run for the Orange and Blue. However, it would not be enough to stop the Owls, as Rice took the stanza, 25-22.
The Owls picked up their intensity and applied more pressure as they jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the second set. Holding UTEP to only nine kills and a .179 hitting percentage, Rice would claim the second stanza, 25-12.
Much like the first two sets, Rice opened with the advantage, as the Miner put out consecutive errors. The Owls would extend their lead with a 5-1 run and sustain it with a 5-2 rally to close the final set, 25-18.
UTEP will return to the court on Sunday to host conference leader Western Kentucky at 12 p.m. MT.
