Match Stats
EL PASO – UTEP volleyball (2-2) fell to New Mexico (3-0) in its home opener via reverse sweep, 3-2 (25-23, 25-27, 18-25, 10-25, 18-20) Thursday evening.
UTEP locked in a 2-0 advantage in the match, but the Lobos turned the deficit into a five-set win.
UTEP had two players reach double-digits in kills, Marian Ovalle (12) and Torrance Lovesee (11). Mattie Gantt achieved 20 assists while Hande Yetis tallied 19. Sara Pustahija recorded seven service aces. On the defense, Hula Crisostomo set the pace with 13 digs.
The Miners totaled 14 blocks against the Lobos (nine).
"I was frustrated that we weren't able to grind that one out for our home crowd," head coach Ben Wallis said. "I felt like we competed really well for the three and a half of the five sets and we shot ourselves in the foot there in the fifth set.
"We had some timely young decisions to play it soft and not go big and finish the match," Wallis said. "UNM is a very solid team, and we knew they were. There were highlights in this match, but unfortunately, we've got to move on quickly because a good Portland State team is waiting for us tomorrow night and we set this tournament up to see what we were made of.
SET ONE | An exciting first set consisted of 10 tied scores and seven lead changes as both teams went back-and-forth in scoring. At a two-point deficit early in the set with New Mexico up 5-3, the Miners harnessed a string of kills to take a 9-7 lead. UTEP's mid-set lead, forced a New Mexico timeout, but the Lobos regained the advantage after a 5-0 run. The Miners reached set point at 24-20, and the Lobos rallied to close the deficit, but a kill from Torrance Lovesee put UTEP first on the board, 25-23.
SET TWO | The Miners used the momentum from the opening set to guide their performance in set two. A close start of the set put the Lobos up 13-11, but UTEP pulled out an 8-0 run for a 19-13 lead which stemmed from four service aces by Sara Pustahija. The Miners stopped the Lobos at 21-17, and eventually closed the set at 25-17 to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
SET THREE | The Lobos came back in the third set replicating UTEP's strong second set to their advantage. New Mexico jumped to a 5-0 lead off of UTEP errors. The Miners were behind 11-18 and to shrunk the deficit down to just two points, 16-18. However, New Mexico ran with the slight lead to land on the board, 25-18.
SET FOUR | The Lobos had their biggest comeback of the match. New Mexico gained an 11-1 lead with three service aces to start the set. They remained in control as they posting a score of 25-10, forcing a fifth set.
SET FIVE | UTEP got out with a 6-1 lead to start the fifth set. The Lobos rallied as they closed in on the Miners, 7-6. Another scoring spurt from the Miners put them up 11-6, but again, New Mexico quickly closed the gap down to 11-9. UTEP error gave the Lobos their first lead of the set which was all New Mexico needed to keep pushing limits. The teams fought for set point up until it was 18-all. The Lobos clinched the win, 20-18, on an assisted block, to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Final Thoughts from Coach Wallis
"At times we were spectacular offensively and at times were spectacular on the block and dig side. We've got to learn that the tip in the finesse game is used as a supplement to the power. And we've got to do a much better job of coaching our players in the right ways in these moments and putting more pressure on them in practice. And we'll get them there. I'm proud of our crowd and I'm really proud of our "915" game. We had a really great crowd here. The atmosphere was awesome. Unfortunately for tonight, UNM earned two great digs there at the end that gave them an opportunity to hit the ball hard and they hit it at the end, and unfortunately, that cost us the match, 20-18."
UP NEXT
UTEP returns to action as it hosts Portland State in the Borderland Invitational Friday (Sep. 2) at 7 p.m. MT. 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).
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.
