EL PASO – The UTEP volleyball team (10-7, 4-0 Conference USA) will host No. 22 Rice Saturday (Oct. 8) at 12 p.m. MT at Memorial Gym.  

Tickets start at $8 and can be purchased through the Eisenberg Family Ticket Office by calling (915) 747-UTEP, emailing tickets@utep.edu, visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or in person at 201 Glory Road (Brumbelow Building, UTEP campus) Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Season tickets are also still on sale. Group tickets are also available for $5 (minimum of 10 tickets).    

Saturday, Oct. 8 

12 p.m. vs. No. 22 Rice | Memorial Gym | CUSA.tv | Live Stats   

Hitting with Consistency        
Six Miners are swinging better than .200 after 17 matches. Kaya Weaver (.323) leads the team among players with at least 60 kills.       

   
Block Party        
The Miners registered a season-high 17 blocks against North Texas on Oct. 2. UTEP posted at least 10 blocks in 10 matches this season. Alianza Darley (91), Serena Patterson (55) and Kaya Weaver (40) each tallied at least 40 blocks to lead the charge.       

   
Miner Rankings    
In Conference USA, UTEP is ranked in the top three in nine different categories:       
     

1. Team Total Blocks (184.0, 2nd NCAA) 

1. Team Service Aces (142, 3rd NCAA) 

2. Team Assists (829, 10th NCAA) 

2. Aces per Set (1.97, 15th NCAA) 

2. Team Kills (878, 19th NCAA) 

2. Opp Hitting Percentage (0.165, 27th NCAA) 

2. Blocks per Set (2.56, 32nd NCAA) 

3. Team Total Attacks (2,297, 48th NCAA) 

3. Team Digs (966, 58th NCAA) 

UTEP has four players ranked in the top ten in seven different categories in the conference:      

      
Balanced Attack        
Over 17 matches, three Miners are blasting home at least 2.0 kills pet set. Torrance Lovesee (162 kills, 2.57/set) leads the way with Serena Patterson (176, 2.44/set) and Sara Pustahija (168, 2.40/set) getting after it as well.       
  
Scouting No. 22 Rice (14-1, 4-0 C-USA) 
The Owls are hitting .260 as a team, and four players have at least 100 kills. Danyle Courtley leads the way with 159 kills (2.74 kills/set). Carly Graham directs the offense with 571 assists (9.84 assists/set). Nia McCardell sets the tone defensively with 301 digs (5.19 digs/set).       
  
The Series vs. No. 22 Rice 
Rice is 44-10 against UTEP. Rice has won the last 10 meetings, and the last time UTEP defeated the Owls was in 2017 in five-sets at home.  
  
Coach Wallis on No. 22 Rice 
"It's going to be a tough matchup. They're a good offensive team. Were a good offensive team. I mean, they're the number 11 RPI team in the country for a reason. They've played an unbelievably tough schedule and they've won a lot of those really tough games against very good opponents and the only loss they have on the year is against a top 25 team in Oregon who's in a 6-2, and they're very athletic and they lost in five. We've been preparing all week for Rice, and they've been preparing all week for us. We only have the one match on Saturday against each other, and it's the top two teams in the conference in terms of stopping people, in terms of opponent hitting percentage. So, something's got to give because both teams are very good at stopping people when it comes to the serve-block-dig, and keeping percentages down. I think it's exciting that my team has been looking forward to this challenge all year. They're ready for the challenge. It's going to be a war. I'm looking forward to matching up on Saturday and seeing two good teams really try to stomp on each other."

For complete coverage of UTEP Women's Volleyball, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @utepvb (Instagram) @UTEPVolleyball (Facebook) and @UTEPVB (Twitter) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.