UTEP Miners

VB NOTES WEEK 12 | MARSHALL/NEW MEXICO

EL PASO, Texas- The UTEP Volleyball Team (5-21, 2-11 C-USA) will head into its final stretch of the 2017 season beginning with the conference home match against Marshall on Wednesday, Nov. 8, and ending on the road in Albuquerque, N.M. to face New Mexico on Sunday, Nov. 12. First serve against the Thundering Herd is set for 6 p.m. MT in Memorial Gym while the Miners' meeting with the Lobos is slated for a 5 p.m. MT start on Sunday at the Johnson Center. The Thundering Herd is 10-17 overall, 5-7 in Conference USA while the Lobos hold a 14-13 overall record and are 6-8 in the Mountain West. 

The Miners return home after a weekend in Florida where they faced FIU and Florida Atlantic in a slew of conference matches. FIU bested UTEP in four sets last Friday at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Fla. The Panthers took sets one and two 25-14 and 25-19, respectively, before the Miners rallied to get the 26-24 set three win. FIU pushed to take set four 25-19 and the match 3-1. In total, the Miners tallied 43 kills, 42 assists, five service aces, 67 digs and 10 block assists while the Panthers recorded 51 kills, 49 assists, eight service aces, 71 digs, four solo blocks and 10 block assists. The team then took the short trip to Boca Raton, Fla. for Sunday's match against Florida Atlantic. UTEP fell in three sets to Florida Atlantic at the FAU Arena, 25-12, 25-8, and 25-20. The Miners totaled 21 kills, 17 assists, 28 digs, one solo block and six blocks assists while the Owls notched 47 kills, 43 assists, seven service aces, 45 digs and 10 block assists. 

The final Conference USA match for the Miners will have them looking to end on a high note with a win, while the Herd will be looking to stay in contention for a trip to the C-USA tournament. The Lobos will be playing to keep their record above .500. 

Both of UTEP's weekend matches will be live streamed, with the match against Marshall streaming through CUSA.tv, which requires a paid subscription and the New Mexico match will be streamed from the Mountain West Network. Live stats, as well as live tweetingm will also be provided to follow through the UTEP Athletics website and the volleyball Twitter page (@UTEP_VB).  

LIVE STATS VS MARSHALL: http://www.sidearmstats.com/utep/wvball/

LIVE STREAM VS MARSHALL: http://conferenceusa.com/watch/?Live=3674

LIVE STATS VS NEW MEXICO: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=183351

LIVE STREAM VS NEW MEXICO: http://www.golobos.com/sports/2015/11/9/TheMWNetwork.aspx?master=watch

MARSHALL Scouting Report

Series: Wednesday's match will mark the 17th meeting between Marshall and UTEP, with the Thundering Herd holding a 10-6 advantage in the series. They first met in 1997 at the UMKC Invitational in Kansas City, Mo., when the Miners took the 3-2 victory. They last met in 2016 in Huntington, when the Thundering Herb earned the 3-0 win. The Herd is 10-17 overall and 5-7 in conference play.

THUNDERING HERD Notables

After falling to North Texas on Friday, Marshall bounced back to sweep Charlotte in three-straight sets (25-20, 25-18, 25-11) to improve its overall record to 10-17 and 5-7 in Conference USA play. Sophomore Madison Hill led the Thundering Herd offense with 16 kills with a .429 hitting percentage. Sophomore Jac'cara Walker and senior Justice Craft each registered seven kills. On defense, freshman Jessa Long had 17 digs, while freshmen Addisyn Rowe and Katie Jacques contributed with three block assists, respectively. 

Marshall comes into the match ranked forth in C-USA in blocks, with an average of 2.23. Sophomore Walker is the second best player in the league in kills with 330 so far this season, she also rates fifth in service aces with a .37 average per set and a total of 31. Freshman Rowe has made a name for herself currently ranking seventh in C-USA for blocks with a total of 90 (1.05 avg.) during her fist season with the Herd.

NEW MEXICO SCOUTING REPORT

Series: Sunday's match will mark the 43rd match between the Miners and the Lobos, with New Mexico holding an 8-34 overall record over UTEP. The two foes met last year during the UT Arlington Invitational, where the Lobos took the match 2-3. Their most recent meeting came on Sept. 1 at the Glory Road Invitational in Memorial Gym, when the Lobos earned the 3-0 win over the Miners. The Lobos are 14-13 overall and are 6-8 in Mountain West Conference play. 

  

LOBO NOTABLES

Offensively, the Lobos will consist of Lauren Twitty, Mariessa Carrasco, Victoria Spragg. Twiity leads the team with 371 kills this season (3.91 kills/set). Defensively, she ranks second the team with 249 digs (2.62 digs/set). Carrasco and Spragg also contribute immensely to the New Mexico offense. Carrasco has 223 kills (2.32 kills/set). Spragg has 201 kills (2.09 kills/set). She also leads the team in blocks with 98 (1.02 blocks/set). Defensively, leading the charge for the Lobos is Ashley Kelsey who has 422 digs (4.40 digs/set). Mercedes Pacheco will also help lead the Lobos defensively with 217 (2.26 digs/set). Carson Heilborn and Sarah Lobo also lead the team in sets with 692 sets (9.48 sets/set). Lobo has 284 sets (7.28 sets/set).  

ROOKIE DUO PACE MINER OFFENSE VERSUS PANTHERS 

Freshmen Mallory Yost and Cheyenne Jones powered the UTEP Volleyball Team's offensive with 10 kills each in UTEP's four-set slip-up against FIU on Friday. Yost also recorded three block assists and an ace while Jones added two blocks to showcase the Miners' strong rookie players.  

While Yost's and Jones's kills led the offense, Macey Austin chipped in eight kills of her own and Amanda King recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 33 assists and 10 digs. Dania Orozco manned the UTEP defense with a career-high 20 digs while Niki Cebakreached 11 digs. In total, the Miners tallied 43 kills, 42 assists, five service aces, 67 digs and 10 block assists while the Panthers recorded 51 kills, 49 assists, eight service aces, 71 digs, four solo blocks and 10 block assists.

OROZCO PICKS UP 30 ON THE WEEKEND 

Senior Dania Orozco is playing in her final collegiate matches, but the El Paso native is making the most of it, picking up 30 digs in two matches this past weekend. Orozco started with a career-high 20 digs against FIU on Friday and notched another double-digit performance with 10 digs against Florida Atlantic. The libero now has 162 total digs on the season.

AUSTIN CLIMBS IN UTEP RECORD BOOK

Sophomore Macey Austin has climbed in UTEP volleyball record books in her young career. The outside hitter, who has played in 96 sets this season, is first on the team in kills (330) and points (347.5), ranking ninth in the league. Her 330 kills rank seventh in UTEP individual career records and her 3.44 kills per set ranks third in the Miners' record book. Austin is on pace to keep those numbers growing with two years of elgibility left. 

KING WORKS FOR FOURTH DOUBLE-DOUBLE OF THE SEASON

Senior Amanda King dished out 33 assists and 10 digs during UTEP's match against FIU to notch her fourth double-double of the season. The setter has recorded double-double performances against Abilene Christian (Sept. 10), Portland (Sept. 15), Rice (Oct. 22) and FIU. 

WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S SALUTE TO SERVICE 

Wednesday's final home match against Marshall will be "Military Appreciation Night" in Memorial Gym. All military personnel will get into the match for free and UTEP's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) will be at the match. The intermission between the second and third sets will feature musical chairs. 

YOU GOT SERVED

UTEP has recorded 115 service aces this season. Briana Arellano paces the Miners with 25 service aces, while Niki Cebak is close behind with 23 this season. Arellano's most recent service ace came against FIU on Nov. 3.