TUCSON – Freshmen Sara Pustahija, Mattie Gantt, and Kaya Weaver topped UTEP's leaderboard after Friday's doubleheader at the Wildcat Classic. The Miners were led by Pustahija in kills (27) and points (30), Gantt in assists (50), and Weaver in blocks (11.0) and hitting percentage (.286). 

The Miners (4-7) dropped 3-2 to Cal State Northridge (5-6) before being edged out 3-1 to Arizona (9-1) at McKale Center. 

Single Match Career Highs: 

• Gantt – 37 assists vs. CSUN 

• Weaver – 10 kills, 19 attacks, 8 blocks, .474 hitting % vs. CSUN 

• Marian Ovalle – 38 attacks, 9 digs vs. CSUN 

CSUN 3, UTEP 2 

UTEP dropped its opening match to the Matadors, 3-2, (21-25, 25-14, 26-28, 25-17, 7-15) at the Wildcat Classic Friday. 

UTEP had four players reach double-digits in kills, Sara Pustahija (15), Serena Patterson (14), Kaya Weaver (10), and Torrance Lovesee (10). Mattie Gantt directed the offense by compiling 30+ assists. Hula Crisostomo led the team with 30 digs while Pustahija recorded 16 for a double-double. 

 
UTEP held the statistical advantage in kills (65-53) and hitting percentage (.172-.138) but were out blocked (13-15) and trailed in aces (1-3). 

 
SET ONE | The Matadors go out to a quick 5-1 lead only allowing one kill to Patterson. CSUN used a 4-1 run to snap a 12-12 tie. CSUN errors aided the Miners in closing the deficit down to 18-16. UTEP's rally fell short as the Matadors rolled out a 6-3 run to be first on the board, 25-21. 

SET TWO | UTEP secured the first two points and never gave up the lead. UTEP drove out a 5-1 run to force a CSUN timeout for a 15-8 advantage. UTEP took a timeout with a 23-12 lead and after the break Pustahija slammed two kills over the Matadors to win the set, 25-14, and tie the match. 

SET THREE | CSUN pulled ahead early on, 8-4, just before UTEP huddled up. The Miners tied up the set 14-14 on a block assist by Weaver and Lovesee. Tag team Darley and Psutahija helped the Miners gain the lead, 21-20, after their block assist and on kill each. UTEP took a timeout after the Matadors reached set point, 24-22, but after five total set points, the Matadors came out on top, 28-26, to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. 

SET FOUR | UTEP replicated their second set energy as they forced a fifth set. UTEP had full control of the set after handing in a 7-1 run to lead 14-7. Both teams took advantgae of timeouts and CSUn would use a second after the Miners continued to pull ahead, 22-16. A kill by Weaver and a pair of CSUN errors closed the set and the Miners claimed the 25-27 win. 

SET FIVE | At 2-2, the Matadors used a 3-0 run to lead 5-2. CSUN had another fast run only giving up two points to the Miners from errors to stretch the lead, 9-4. The Matadors only gave up three more points to the Miners before closing out the eight-point lead to win the match, 15-7. 

 
Arizona 3, UTEP 1 
The UTEP volleyball team suffered its second loss of the day against Arizona (9-1), 3-1 (14-25, 25-19, 20-25, 23-25) at the Wildcat Classic Friday.  

UTEP had two players reach double-digits in kills, Torrance Lovesee (14) and Sara Pustahija (12). Mattie Gantt directed the offense with 12 assists. Hula Crisostomo led the team with 20 digs. 

 
UTEP held the statistical advantage in aces (8-1) but was out blocked (18-8) and outhit (.081-.180). Both teams recorded 43 total kills. 

SET ONE | Arizona found a quick rhythm to begin the match, 4-1. Double kills by Weaver and two errors from the Wildcats, shortened the deficit, 13-10. In between two UTEP timeouts, Arizona popped out a 5-2 run. Pustahija put up one more kill before the Wildcats took the set win at 25-14. 

SET TWO | A change of momentum happened for the Miners as they secured the lead, 7-3. A pretty even exchange of points occurred after Arizona called for a sidebar forcing UTEP to take a timeout with an 18-14 lead. Pustahija posted two kills and an ace to extend the lead, 22-15. Yetis posted the fourth ace of the set pulling the Miners up to set point making way for Weaver to shred a kill for the win, 25-19. 

SET THREE | Pustahija put up the first three kills for the Miners, trailing only by two, 6-4. The Wildcats stretched the lead, 17-9, only allowing three kills to come down from the Miners. Arizona took a timeout after a UTEP 5-2 scoring run. The Miners held on tight after Lovesee and Yetis tried to close the gap, but came up short in the third, 25-20. 

SET FOUR | After five tied scores to start the final set, a block assist by Weaver and Ovalle broke the tie to gain the lead, 12-11, but Arizona answered back with a 3-0 run to regain the advantage, 14-12. After a UTEP timeout mid-set, the Miners closed in on the Wildcats by one point, 18-17. Lovesee put up three straight kills as Arizona was one point away from match point, 23-21. The Wildcats gave up one error and a kill to the Miners but knocked out those last two points to win the match, 25-23. 

UP NEXT  
UTEP will conclude the tournament against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 11:30 a.m. MT Saturday (Sep. 17). Live stats will be available.  

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.