EL PASO – The UTEP volleyball team (5-7) will host UTRGV (11-3) in its last non-conference contest prior to conference play. The matchup will take place at Memorial Gym on Monday, Sep. 19 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).  
  
The matches will be live streamed on CUSA.tv, with live stats available. 
 

Coach Wallis on UTRGV 
"Our Monday night match is against a good WAC team. They were supposed to come back to us last year, but because of some COVID stuff, they rolled it over to this year. They're playing really well and they've got a very special player in Sarah Cruz that's going to give us some trouble because she's a big, long, capable veteran scorer. They got a Brazilian setter who's a ball of fire and they're well-coached and they play really hard along with a different style of volleyball which is a bit more of an international style. They're going to give us some trouble, but we're looking forward to it. And I scheduled this because it's another really tough test from a potential conference champion.  

"And we're still in the fight. We're still in it. We just got to make it longer, consistent runs of volleyball happen instead of these big peaks and valleys. And I still believe wholeheartedly that we're capable of winning this conference and it's going to start next weekend. UTRGV will give us one more good test to get us ready for it." 

 
Hitting with Consistency    
A trio of Miners are swinging better than .200 after 12 matches. Vittoria .331) leads the team among players with at least 50 kills.    
   
Block Party    
The Miners registered a season-high 15 blocks against Portland State on Sep. 2. UTEP posted at least 10 blocks in eight matches this season. Alianza Darley (69), Serena Patterson (37) and Vittoria Price (31) each tallied at least 30 blocks to lead the charge.    
   
Miner Rankings (as of Sep. 15) 
In Conference USA, UTEP is ranked in the top five in eight different categories:    
  

1. Team Service Aces (82, 9th NCAA)  

2. Team Total Blocks (98.0, 10th NCAA)    

2. Aces per Set (2.10, 25th NCAA)  

2. Blocks per Set (2.51, 50th NCAA)  

4. Team Total Attacks (1,297, 53rd NCAA)  

5. Team Assists (450, 30th NCAA)  

5. Team Digs (554, 54th NCAA)  

5. Opp Hitting Percentage (0.184, 108th NCAA)  

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

   
Balanced Attack    
Over 12 matches, three Miners are blasting home at least 2.0 kills pet set. Serena Patterson (133, 2.56/set) leads the way Torrance Lovesee (109, 2.32/set) and Sara Pustahija (114, 2.28/set) getting after it as well.    
   
Scouting UTRGV 
UTRGV is entering this weekend at 11-3. The Vaqueros are hitting .242 as a team, and four players have at least 90 kills. Sarah Cruz easily leads the way with 244 kills (4.60 kills/set). Luanna Emiliano directs the offense with 549 assists (10.98 assists/set). Regina Tijerina sets the tone defensively with 193 digs (3.71 digs/set).    
    
The Series vs. UTRGV 
UTEP  15-1 all-time against UTRGV and Monday will be the 17th matchup between the programs in a series dating back to 1984. UTRGV earned its lone win 3-1 at home on Oct. 31, 2003. These two teams last met on Sept 23, 2021, a 3-1 win for the Miners.
 

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.