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UTEP Volleyball Takes On I-10 Rival NM State

10/2/2023 10:00:00 PM

EL PASO – UTEP Volleyball (10-5, 2-2 Conference USA) will go up against I-10 rival NM State, Oct. 3-4, in Las Cruces, N.M. inside the Pan American Center. Tuesday's match is set for a 6 p.m. first serve, while Wednesday contest is slated for 5 p.m. MT.  

"I am confident that these matches are going to be hard fought ones," head coach Ben Wallis said. "It's two top 100 teams going after each other, and it all comes down to execution. That's the chess piece. So, we're excited about playing and it's going to be tougher going up to Las Cruces and playing them on their home floor. But we've gotten wins up there in that building before-pretty big wins in our program's history and I feel good about going up there and playing."

 UTEP_Pick_OrangeSCHEDULE       

Tuesday, Oct. 3 
Match 16 at NM State – 6 pm | Stream: ESPN+ | Live Stats 

Wednesday, Oct. 4  
Match 17 at NM State – 5pm | Stream: ESPN+ | Live Stats 
^All Times Mountain     

 HITTING WITH CONSISTENCY      

UTEP is hitting .270 paced by six Miners who are killing it at or above the mark. Kaya Weaver (.457) leads the team among players with at least 70 kills. The UTEP offense sits 24th in the nation in hitting percentage.    

 BLOCK PARTY     

The Miners registered a season-high 18 blocks in the 3-1 win against San Francisco on Aug. 31. UTEP posted at least 10 blocks on eight occasions – most recently against Jax State with 11 blocks. Kaya Weaver (64) leads the charge among players with at least 35 blocks. Nationally, UTEP is 46th in blocks per set (2.49) and 47th in team total blocks (142.0). 

 BALANCED ATTACK    

UTEP showed a balanced attack in the versus Jax State with four Miners blasting home at least 2.0 kills per set. Torrance Lovesee (17 kills, 2.83/set) led the charge with Alianza Darley, Marian Ovalle, and Kaya Weaver (13 kills, 2.17/set) getting after it as well. 

 IN THE CUSA SPOTLIGHT     

  • Danika Washington was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week (Sep. 11) after picking up 17 blocks at the Bobcat Invitational, averaging 1.42 blocks per set. Washington totaled 35.5 points that included 27 kills with a .489 hitting percentage and was named to the Bobcat Invitational All-Tournament Team.     

  • Kalia Kohler was named Freshman of the Week (Sep. 11) after she averaged 5.54 assists per set through 13 sets leading the Miners to wins over Ohio and William & Mary. In a 6-2 system, she registered 20 or more assists in each match while she helped the UTEP defense to a .241 hitting clip. Kohler also racked up four aces, two kills and 20 digs on the weekend.    

  • Kohler earned her second CUSA Freshman of the Week award (Oct. 2) after her performance was influential in the Miner's success with a pair of sweeps over Jacksonville State. She led UTEP with a total of 29 assists (5.80/set) across the weekend and combined with Mattie Gantt for over 55 percent of assists in a 6-2 system. Kohler produced a .448 hitting clip and racked up one kill, three service aces and two digs in six sets. 

 MINER RANKINGS    

In Conference USA, UTEP is ranked in the top three in six categories:     

1. Blocks per set (2.49, 46th NCAA) 
1. Total Team Blocks (142.0, 47th NCAA) 
2. Aces per Set (1.91, 28th NCAA) 
2. Team Service Aces (109, 37th NCAA) 
3. Hitting Percentage (0.270, 24th NCAA) 
3. Match W-L Pctg. (0.667, 76th NCAA) 
 
UTEP has three players ranked in the top 10 in three categories in the conference:              

Statistic             

Player             

CUSA Rank    

Value             

Blocks per Set   

Kaya Weaver 

Danika Washington 

2 

3 

1.19* 

1.04 

Total Blocks   

Kaya Weaver 

3 

64* 

Total Digs   

Alyssa Sianez 

6 

181 

* NCAA Top 75 

 THE OPPONENT    

NM State  

  • NM State is entering the weekend at 11-4 overall and 4-0 in CUSA. The team is ranked top-30 nationally in two team statistics – assists per set (No. 26, 12.76) and opp. Hitting percentage (No. 30, 0.161). 

  • The Aggies are hitting .252 as a team, and four players have at least 100 kills. Ryleigh Whitekettle leads the way with 183 kills (3.39/set). Bianca Perez directs the offense with 350 assists (6.48/set). Darian Markham paces the squad with 4.56 digs per set (246 digs).    

  • Darian Markham ranks 49th in the nation in digs per set and 80th in total digs.  

  • As a team, the Aggies are leading CUSA in opponent hitting percentage. 

  • Mike Jordan enters his 26th season as New Mexico State head coach already the winningest coach in program history with 544 wins. Having served as head coach for only the Aggies, Jordan has amassed a career record of 544-228 ahead of the 2023 season. 

  • The Aggies are 65-25 against UTEP. 

"For me, it's a little bit of a homecoming," Wallis said. "I went to school there [NMSU] and learned a lot about volleyball there from Mike (Jordan), and so it'll feel good for my family to be back up there. But at the end of the day, it's all about the UTEP Miners getting wins over the New Mexico State Aggies." 
 

Give a gift to UTEP Women's Volleyball by donating to the Point Miners Club.         

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. 

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