UTEP Volleyball Opens Season Friday

EL PASO, Texas-The UTEP volleyball team will begin its quest to return to the Conference USA Championships when the 2017 season kicks off this weekend in San Antonio, Texas.
The I-10 Cardinals Classic, hosted by Incarnate Word, will contest the Miners against Tulane on Aug. 25 at 9 a.m. (MT), followed by a 2 p.m. (MT) showdown with Louisiana Lafayette. The Miners will round out the tournament Aug. 26 at 10 a.m. (MT) when they meet with Incarnate Word.

All three matches will be played at the McDermott Convocation Center.

Players and coaches will be available for interview's during Thursday morning's practice from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The team will depart for San Antonio at 3:50 p.m.

LIVE STATS FOR ALL MATCHES:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/incarnateword/wvball/

TULANE SCOUTING REPORT
Series: The old Conference USA foes will be meeting for the 18th time and the first since 2013, when Tulane took the 3-1 victory on their home court (9/29/13). The Green Wave hold a 13-4 lead on the Miners in all-time meetings since the two began competing against each other in 2005.

GREEN WAVE NOTABLES
Tulane returns eight letter winners, including American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference selection Kaylie McHugh, who helped the team to an 18-14 overall (10-10 AAC) record in 2016. McHugh, a libero, manned the Green Wave defense with a team-leading 594 digs (4.60/set), the second-highest single season total in school history. The sophomore also led the AAC with 435 digs (5.30/set) in conference matches. Senior setter Justine Bowers and junior middle hitter Dayna Kern will help Tulane's offensive efforts. Bowers led the team with 1,268 assists on the year (9.75/set) and recorded 50+ assists on eight occasions. Kern led the Green Wave in total blocks with 108 and notched double-digit kills in ten matches.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE SCOUTING REPORT
Series: Friday's match will mark the second meeting between the Miners and the Ragin' Cajuns, with UTEP holding the 1-0 advantage after sweeping Louisiana-Lafayette in 1989. The Ragin' Cajuns finished with a 10-21 overall record, 6-10 Sun Belt Conference record.

RAGIN' CAJUNS NOTABLES
Louisiana-Lafayette has decorated players returning for the 2016 season, including seniors Jessica Bartczyszyn and Stacey Reilly. The duo was selected to the 2017 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Team. Bartczyszyn, a setter, delivered 1,144 assists in 2016 and helped direct the Ragin' Cajuns to 11.99 kills per set. Reilly will be a force on the outside after coming off a 387-kill, 347-dig season in 2016. The outside hitter averaged 3.22 kills per set, leading the team. Defensively, Louisiana-Lafayette returns its digs leader, Sydney Davis, who scooped up 508 digs last season.

INCARNATE WORD SCOUTING REPORT
Series: The Miners and Cardinals will meet for the first time in 28 years, with UTEP trying to keep its 3-0 all-time record against Incarnate Word flawless. The last time the two clashed was at the UTSA Invitational (11/3/89), with the Miners earning the victory by a three-set sweep. Incarnate Word finished the 2016 season with a 12-17 overall, 8-8 Southland Conference record.

CARDINAL NOTABLES
Two upperclassmen, junior Autumn Lockley and senior Bryaunea Hall, will lead Incarnate Word. Each landed a spot on the 2017 Southland Preseason All-Conference Volleyball Team for their efforts during the 2016 season. Lockley paced the Cardinals with 388 kills and 443 points while averaging 3.50 kills per set as an outside hitter. She added 301 digs, 70 blocks and 13 service aces to her resume on the year. Hall joined Lockley at the front, finishing second on the team in both kills (245) and blocks (82) at the middle blocker position.

EXPERIENCED TEAM RETURNS
Nine of the 13 players on UTEP's roster are returning players, while the Miners add four freshmen to the mix. There is a level of competitive depth to this program, thanks in large part to smart and consistent recruiting.

ANALYZING THE DEPTH
Outside Hitters
UTEP has the most depth in the outside position with a total of five outside hitters. Junior Ashley Grzebeniak is the only returning upperclassman, bringing two years of experience and coming off a 148-kill season. The Miners will also be loaded with sophomores Macey Austin, who was named to the 2016 Conference USA All-Freshman, and El Paso native Briana Arellano. In 2016, Austin started in 21 of 30 matches and led the team in kills (280) while Arellano saw action in 29 matches, starting in 14 contests. Also returning is sophomore Ali Vidali, who has one year of experience and is continuing to develop as a player after appearing in 49 sets. Joining the group will be freshman Cheyenne Jones. The 6-foot-1 Missoula, Montana native brings tremendous size and power and is anticipated to make an immediate impact to the team.

Middle Blockers
At the middle blocker position, the Miners return juniors Kylie Baumgartner and Maddie Morgan and add freshman Mallory Yost. Baumgartner brings two years of experience and once again led the Miners in blocks with 111 total (18s/93a) in 2016. Morgan also has two years under her belt, knocking down 102 kills and tallying 30 total blocks last season. Yost adds size to the position at 6-foot-1 and should see plenty of playing time as the Miners work to develop her to the collegiate-level pace. She finished her high school career with 816 kills at a .377 hitting efficiency, 182 digs, 151 blocks (56s/95a), 11 assists and nine service aces.

Setters
Senior Amanda King will fill the void left with Lindsey Larson's departure. The senior, who transferred to UTEP last season from Palm Beach State, made 25 starts in 30 matches and dished out 371 assists at a 3.28 average assists per set. As a six-rotation player, King also registered 192 digs, 18 kills, 14 service aces and 32 points. Joining King will be freshman Sahara Martinez. The newcomer from La Verne, Calif., totaled 1,987 assists throughout her high school career and will help King in the rotation.

Defensive Specialists
On defense, UTEP returns sophomore Niki Cebak, who brings one year of experience after taking the court for 29 matches with 10 starting appearances. Cebak registered 150 digs in 2016 and will be joined by senior Dania Orozco. The El Paso native transferred to UTEP last season from New Mexico Military Institute and saw action in 23 matches, accumulating 50 digs. Freshman newcomerAbby Adams will join the group. The trio will work to fill Sarah Villa's spot, who, as the starting libero in 2016, recorded 553 digs at 4.89 digs per set to lead Conference USA.

2016 SEASON QUICK RECAP
The 2016 season was a year of growth for a young Miner squad. The team clinched its first Conference USA Championships bid in two years thanks to a four-game winning streak that ran from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6. The Miners grabbed the eighth seed in the championships, but ultimately fell to eventual 2016 Conference USA Champion WKU in three sets. The Miners ended the season with a 8-22 overall, 5-9 conference record. The season did not go with accolades, however, as seniors Lindsey Larson and Sarah Villa were named to the C-USA Second Team and Macey Austin was named to the All-Freshman team. Larson was also honored for her outstanding work in the classroom, being named to the C-USA All-Academic Team.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
The UTEP volleyball team will look to build on the 2016 season when its 29-match schedule begins on Aug. 25. Thirteen home matches, including two home tournaments, will take place in Memorial Gym this fall. UTEP will open the year with 14 non-conference matches, including Texas Tech and New Mexico, before Conference USA play begins September 22 and will have the goal of returning to the Conference USA Championships come November.

UTEP fans will get their first look at the team, which returns 2016 Conference USA All-Freshman Team selection Macey Austin, Kylie Baumgartner, and El Paso's own Briana Arellano, on Aug. 30 against Big 12's Texas Tech in the historic Memorial Gym. The team will then host back-to-back tournaments, the Glory Road Invitational (Sept. 1-2) and the Borderland Invitational (Sept. 8-10).  The Glory Road Invitational will bring New Mexico, Youngstown State and North Dakota to the Sun City and the Borderland Invitational will feature Samford, Delaware State and Abilene Christian. The Interstate-10 rivalry match against NM State will go down in Las Cruces on Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. and the Miners will kick start Conference USA play three days later with a two-game home stand beginning on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. against Rice in Memorial Gym and closing out with a Sunday match up against UAB at noon. Fans will then get to catch the team again at home Oct. 13 and 15 when they meet up with North Texas and UTSA at 6 p.m. and noon, respectively. The team will return two weeks later to host LA Tech (Oct. 27) and Middle Tennessee (Oct. 29) to close out the month. The last home match will be against Marshall on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m.

HITTING THE BOOKS
UTEP proved they were hitting the books as hard as the volleyballs when they were announced as a recipient of the 2016-17 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award in July. The award honors teams who have matched their dedication to the sport of volleyball with excellence in the classroom. The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. The AVCA Team Academic Award, celebrating its 25th year, is the single largest award offered by quantity of schools, players and coaches honored. Since the 2000-2001 season, the number of recipients have increased every single year but two, while amassing a 532 team increase over the span of the last decade. Since the award's inception in 1993, the amount of award winners has increased from 62 to its current number of 822.

CONFERENCE HONORS
Three Miners were recognized by Conference USA for their efforts during the 2016 campaign. Lindsey Larson and Sarah Villa, both seniors last season, were named to the C-USA Second Team whileMacey Austin earned a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team. Larson concluded her collegiate career as UTEP's  all-time leader in assists (2,677), service aces (71), total blocks (317) and block assists (292) while ranking second on the list in assists per set (6.17). Larson was also honored for her outstanding dedication in the classroom after being named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team for the third time. She sported a 3.93 GPA in civil engineering and was a regular member to UTEP's Dean List and the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medalist list. Larson started in all 82 sets and is the only one in the league to notch a triple-double in 2016. Larson has registered a total of five triple-doubles on the season and 15 total double-doubles, the second-most in C-USA. Villa made her way to the list after denting the school record books for digs (1,369) and digs per set (3.71). Villa also holds the conference record for most digs in a match with 45. After a breakout year, Austin was named to the All-Freshman team and led the Miners in kills (280) and kills per set (2.64). With three years of collegiate eligibility left, Austin already ranks 10th on UTEP's all-time kills list and fifth for kills per set. Austin will be anticipated to lead the Miners on the front court.

STUDENTS FIRST
Though 11 of 12 players were named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll, three secured C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medals for maintaining a GPA of 3.75 or greater. Lindsey Larson, Macey Austin and Briana Arellano received the medal, Larson for the third time and Austin and Arellano for the first.  Larson was also named to the C-USA All-Academic team. The three were also starters for the Miners.

EL PASO'S VERY OWN
The 2017 roster features two players from El Paso—defensive specialist Dania Orozco and outside hitter Briana Arellano. Orozco is a 2014 Americas High School graduate and joined the team last season after transferring from New Mexico Military Institute, where she played for two years. The senior tallied 50 total digs last season and added a service ace and an assist. Arellano is a 2016 graduate from Canutillo High School and found immediate success as a freshman on the UTEP squad, knocking down 95 kills and picking up 220 digs, making her the leading defensive returner for the Miners.

AUSTIN'S POWER
After a breakout rookie year, sophomore Macey Austin will be anticipated to continue her dominance at the net. Austin led the team in kills (280) and racked up 2.64 kills per set in 106 sets played as a freshman last season. She also registered double-digit kills in 14 matches including a season-best 18 kills twice. For her efforts, Austin was named to the 2016 Conference USA All-Freshman Team. The six-foot Keller, Texas native ranks 10th on UTEP's all-time list for kills.

RETURN TO THE 'SHIP
The Miners earned a spot at the Conference USA Championships for the first time in two years last season, a feat they look to repeat in 2017. The team earned the eighth and final spot for the tournament, which paired them with top-seeded and eventual champion WKU, who swept the Miners. A year of experience later, however, the team now knows what it takes to make the tournament and what to expect. The Orange and Blue will return nine letterwinners from last year's championship-bid team, including seven who saw action at the tournament.

FILLING THE VOID
Three key players, Lindsey Larson, Sarah Villa and Tatum Winter, were lost due to graduation. The Miners will now reload this year to fill the void. Senior Amanda King, who transferred to UTEP last season, will take over Larson's setter position. King dished out 371 assists in 113 sets and added 18 kills and will look to add more in her leadship role. Niki Cebak and Dania Orozco will be in line to fill the libero spot left from Villa. Cebak played in 96 sets and picked up 150 digs, while Orozco played in 41 sets and tallied 50 digs. Abby Adams, a freshman, will also be in the runnings. Winter, a middle blocker, got help from juniors Kylie Baumgartner and Maddie Morgan. Baumgartner led the team in blocks for the second straight year with 111 (18s/93a) and Morgan added 30 to the mix. The pair will be joined by Mallory Yost, who comes to UTEP after recording 151 blocks during her high school career.

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