UTEP Volleyball Prepares for Three-Game Stretch

WEEK EIGHT | NORTH TEXAS | UTSA | SOUTHERN MISS

EL PASO, Texas-After two weeks on the road, the UTEP Volleyball Team will return to Memorial Gym for a two-game Conference-USA home stand before jetting off to Hattiesburg, MS to round out a three game schedule this weekend. The Miners will take on second-place North Texas (17-2, 4-1 C-USA) on Friday at 6 p.m. and will meet again with UTSA (5-11, 3-1 C-USA) on Sunday at noon in Memorial Gym. After Tropical Storm Nate forced UTEP's match against Southern Miss to be postponed last Sunday, the two league foes will meet on Monday at 12 p.m. MT at the Reed Green Coliseum in Hattiesburg, MS.

The Miners (4-13, 1-3 C-USA) are coming off a four-set loss to Charlotte on the road. The 49ers took the first two sets 25-10, 25-11, but the Miners rallied to take set three 25-23. Charlotte regained composure and ran away with the 25-13 set four victory to take the match 3-1. The Miners saw strong performances from Macey Austin, who notched 13 kills and the team's only solo block, Kylie Baumgartner, who had eight kills at an impressive .545 clip and Sahara Martinez, who manned the assist duties 26. Defensively, Ashley Grzebeniak paced the Miners with 12 digs while Abby Adams added eight of her own. Maddie Morgan also notched two block assists.

UTEP will be looking to even their conference record at 3-3, should they go undefeated in the three-game stretch, while the Mean Green and Roadrunners will fight to keep their league record at only one loss. UTSA will meet with Middle Tenneesee prior to Sunday's match against UTEP. Southern Miss will return home after 21 days on the road playing away matches when it meets with Louisiana Tech on Friday.

LIVE STATS VS NORTH TEXAS AND UTSA: http://www.sidearmstats.com/utep/wvball/

LIVE STATS VS SOUTHERN MISS: http://www.southernmiss.com/gametracker/launch/gt_wvolley.html?event=1549584&school=smis&sport=wvolley&camefrom=&startschool=&

NORTH TEXAS SCOUTING REPORT
Series: Friday's match will mark the 17th meeting between the Miners and the Mean Green, with North Texas holding a 7-9 advantage in the overall record versus the Miners. The two first met in 1981 at the TWC Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, when the Miners notched a 2-0 victory. They last met on October 14, 2016, when the Mean Green grabbed a 3-0 win in Denton, Texas. North Texas has a 17-2 overall record and are 4-1 in Conference USA play.

MEAN GREEN NOTABLES
The Mean Green improved to 17-2 overall, 4-1 in Conference USA action and 11-1 at home after their 3-0 victory against UAB on Oct. 6 in Denton. The Mean Green finds themselves tied for second in C-USA with Rice. North Texas is on a five-match winning streak (Sept. 24 - Oct. 6) that started with a 3-0 win at FIU and continued with victories against Oklahoma (3-0), UTSA (3-1) and LA Tech (3-0). North Texas fell at Southern Miss, 3-2, on Sept. 22. The Mean Green's first loss was a 3-1 setback against Texas Tech earlier in the season. North Texas ranks second in C-USA and sixth nationally is kills per set (14.71). UNT ranks second in C-USA and 10th nationally in hitting percentage (.300), while also ranking second in C-USA in service aces per set (1.63) and assists per set (13.68). Opponents are only hitting .173 against North Texas – third lowest in C-USA. Senior MB Amanda Chamberlain leads C-USA and is ranked second nationally in hitting percentage (.474), while senior MB Holly Milam (.329) ranks 10th. Chamberlain is also ranked second in blocks per set (1.60) and leads the team with 190 kills. Senior MB Holly Milam ranks second on the team in kills (181). Junior S Karley York is ranked second in conference in assists per set (11.46). Junior S Alex Janak ranks second in C-USA and 46th nationally in service aces per set (0.42).

UTSA SCOUTING REPORT
Series: Sunday's match will mark the 38th meeting between the Roadrunners and Miners and the second meeting this season. The Roadrunners took the first meeting 3-2 on Oct. 1 in San Antonio. UTSA has  taken the last eight matches, but the Miners have kept it close in the last three meetings, taking the Roadrunners to five sets. UTEP holds a 21-17 lead in the all-time match ups against its Alamo City foe. The Roadrunners are 3-1 in C-USA and 5-11 overall.

ROADRUNNER NOTABLES
UTSA is coming off a sweep of Marshall on Sunday to go into its Friday match against last-place Middle Tennessee on a two-game winning streak. Brianna McCulloch continues to lead the Roadrunner offense, tallying 248 kills (3.82 per set) to rank fourth in conference. Joining her on the list is Marijeta Runjic, who ranks eighth in conference this season with 230 kills (3.38 per set). Setting up the offense is Amanda Gonzales, who sits sixth in Conference USA standings in assists with 686, dishing out a whopping 10.24 assists per set. Gonzales had a match-high 37 assists against Marshall and has five double-doubles this season. The Roadrunner defense has been paced by Emily Ramirez with 210 digs (3.28 per set), ranking ninth in the league, and McCulloch with 163 (2.51 per set). Stopping UTSA opponent's offense is Kara Teal. Teal has notched 46 total blocks, seven of which are solo blocks.

SOUTHERN MISS SCOUTING REPORT
Series: Monday's match will mark the 18th meeting between the Miners and the Golden Eagles, with Southern Miss holding a 13-4 overall record versus the Miners. The two first met on September 8, 1995 when the Miners swept the Golden Eagles in Memorial Gym. They last met on October 9, 2016, when Southern Miss got the three-set victory over the Miners in Memorial Gym.  The Golden Eagles have a 12-8 overall record, and are 2-2 in C-USA play

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTABLES
Southern Miss offensive will be paced by Chandler Marshall and Kylie Grandy. Marshall has 226 kills (3.18 kills/set) this season, while Grandy matches that number with 3.23 kills per set, ranking 10th in Conference USA in kills and is no. 3 in the league in service aces with 27. The Golden Eagles also feature setter Sarah Bell in the mix, who ranks third in conference in assists with 809 total, dishing out 11.08 per set. Defensively, the Golden Eagles have Natalie Druhan who has 274 digs (3.75 digs/set) to rank fifth in the league. Grandy is also skilled defensively, recording 163 digs (2.33 digs/set) this season. At the net on defense, Alexis Coombs has tallied 72 total blocks this season, including 14 solo blocks, to rank seventh in Conference USA.

CHARLOTTE TAKES FOUR SET VICTORY OVER MINERS
An impressive set three victory would prevent a sweep, but UTEP could not hold on as Charlotte took the four set Conference USA match victory at the Halton Arena in Charlotte, N.C. last Friday. The 49ers commanded the first two sets 25-10, 25-11, but the Miners would not go down without a fight, taking set three 25-23. Charlotte prevailed, however, with a 25-13 set four win to take the match 3-1.
The Miner offense was paced by Macey Austin, who notched 13 kills and the team's only solo block. Cheyenne Jones and Kylie Baumgartner followed suit with nine and eight kills, respectively. Baumgartner was hitting at an impressive .545 clip in her effort. Ali Vidali also put together a nice offensive performance with seven kills, all of which came in set three. Sahara Martinez manned the assist duties, leading the team with 26 while Amanda King contributed 16. Defensively, Ashley Grzebeniak paced the Miners with 12 digs while Abby Adams added eight of her own. Other than Austin's solo block, the Miners saw Maddie Morgan notched two block assists while Jones and Vidali added one apiece.

In total, UTEP knocked down 45 kills while recording 44 assists, 52 digs and three total blocks while Charlotte put together 53 kills, 49 assists, four service aces, 58 digs and, as expected as the league's leader in blocks, 26 block assists and one solo block for 14 total blocks.

AUSTIN'S OFFENSE RANKS NINTH
Macey Austin's 13 kills against Charlotte kept her at No. 9 in the league for kills with 216 total and 3.38 per set. The sophomore broke into the rankings at No. 10, but moved up after a 24-kill performance against UTSA on Oct. 1 and stayed in the rankings after her fourth double-digit kill match in a row against Charlotte. The Keller, Texas native's last single-digit kill performance was Sept. 19 against NM State, where she was held to six kills. Since then, Austin has posted two matches with more than 20 kills, first against Rice on Sept. 22 with her career-high 27 kills, then again with her 24 kills against the Roadrunners.

MINERS LEND A HAND FOR PUERTO RICO
In an effort to aid in the hurricane relief efforts for Puerto Rico, the UTEP Volleyball Team will be collecting donations at this weekend's home stand. Items needed are gloves, small flashlights, small candles and batteries. Those wishing to donate can drop the items off at the marketing table in Memorial Gym. The volleyball coaching staff will ship the items on Tuesday.

GAMEDAY TICKET PROMOTIONS
Fans have opportunities to enter both Friday's match against North Texas and Sunday's match against UTSA for free. First, to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness month, fans that wear purple will get into the match for free. The Domestic Violence Awareness Committee and UTEP Life Skills will be at the match. Sunday's match will recognize Breast Cancer Awareness, featuring a breast cancer survivor presentation and hair donation. Fans wearing pink will get in free.

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