EL PASO, Texas – UTEP volleyball (5-6, 4-4 C-USA) travels to Ruston, La., for its two-match series versus Louisiana Tech (1-17, 0-10 C-USA) in the Thomas Assembly Center on Sunday at 12 p.m. and Monday at 11 a.m. MT.
Both matches are available for streaming on C-USA.TV.
"Unfortunately, for us, there is some danger to (the Lady Techsters') 1-17 (record)," head coach
Ben Wallis said. "I think they're playing a lot better than their numbers say and they're definitely playing a lot better than their record shows. They're really close to breaking through and beating some teams. I just hope my team recognizes that and it's not us this weekend."
The Miners are coming off their first straight-set loss of the season, 3-0, to Rice March 15 which featured UTEP's lowest recorded kill percentage (.045) and kill (29) and assist (27) totals to date this season. It was also the first time UTEP has been swept by an opponent this season.
The Miners' defensive backcourt was without its first-and-second-string liberos junior
Hula Crisostomo – who is out for the season with a left leg injury – and freshman
Alyssa Sianez. Returning to the sideline and donning her orange libero jersey this weekend is Siañez who leads the team with a .987 reception percentage (minimum 50 digs).
Wallis said having Siañez back in the lineup is the most important part of the weekend.
"Just getting (Siañez) back, even though we're not going to have (Crisostomo) out there, is so important to our team and to our comfortability," Wallis said. "(Siañez) gives the outside hitters so much more comfortability knowing that she's going to go get the ball that's hit in between them, and they just need to pass what's (hit) at them and… concentrate on their job."
Senior outside hitter
Cheyenne Jones led UTEP with nine kills in the loss; sophomore outside hitter
Alianza Darley added five kills with a team-high .400 attack percentage. Junior outside hitter
Paulina Perez Rosas logged her sixth double-digit dig performance (14) of the season.
WHERE THE MINERS RANK IN C-USA
Offense
- First in ace/set (2.00)
- Fourth in kills/set (13.02)
- Fifth in assists/set (11.93)
Defense
- Fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.194)
Individual
- Jones is eighth in hitting percentage (.351)
- Junior setter Kristen Fritsche is tenth in assists (5.84) in the Miners' two-setter system
- Freshman outside hitter Ava Palm is first in service aces/set (0.59) and tied for third in total service aces (23)
- Freshman setter Hande Yetis is tenth in service aces per set (0.34)
SCOUTING LA TECH
Per Louisiana Tech Athletics:
Louisiana Tech played its final two road Conference USA matches at North Texas this past weekend. The Lady Techsters dropped their first match 3-0 on Sunday before having their late comeback fall short on Monday, falling 3-1 in Denton, Texas.
LA Tech rallied to record a 25-23 victory in the third set of Monday's match, forcing a fourth set against the Mean Green on their home court. Tech hit .333 or better in its final two sets on Monday with right-side hitter
Elena Takova leading the way for the Lady Techsters. Takova recorded a team-high 14 kills, while sophomore
Elizabeth Sandoval hit a team-best .583 with nine kills of her own. LA Tech and the Mean Green battled back and forth in the fourth set before North Texas pulled away late to take the stanza 25-23.
"They've got a good (left-handed) opposite hitter (in Elena Takova) on the right," Wallis said. "She's not hitting for great numbers, but she has been lately. A lot of their bad numbers come from a bad start and that happened to us last year."
SERIES HISTORY
The Miners own a two-win advantage all-time over the Lady Techsters with a 10-8 record. UTEP has won five of the last seven meetings. In the last meeting between the two programs, the Miners hit a collective .381 en route to a three-set victory. Then-junior
Cheyenne Jones and then-sophomore
Serena Patterson put together 14-and-13-kill performances, respectively. Junior
Syenna Masaki posted a career-high 30 assists while then-sophomore
Kenidy Howard dominated the net with a team-high six blocks.
For complete coverage of UTEP Women's Volleyball, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @utepvb (Instagram) and @UTEP_VB (Twitter) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.
