LYNCHBURG, Va. - The UTEP volleyball team defeated the Liberty Lady Flames in four sets in the Conference USA Tournament Quarterfinals Friday afternoon at Liberty Arena. 

The Miners will face off against WKU Saturday (Nov. 18) at 11 a.m. ET in the Conference USA Tournament Semifinals. The match will be live streamed on ESPN+. 

UTEP improves to 21-8 (11-5 CUSA) while Liberty falls to 15-14 (8-8 CUSA).

"The match was what we expected to be a hard-fought match," head coach Ben Wallis said. "It was a little bit interesting in the first set because we really kind of jumped on them. [Liberty] did a really good job of moving the block around, hitting the ball down the line; [Liberty] has two really accomplished outside hitters that were doing a good job of moving us around. We needed every part of our team to get through that and when it got close at the end, teams in the past at UTEP probably would have had a difficult time dealing with the moment, – but this team doesn't, and this team didn't. They were ready for it. I'm proud of these guys." 

Torrance Lovesee matched her career-high 20 kills to lead the Miners and hit for .444 while Alianza Darley followed with 13 kills with a .370 attack percentage. Kalia Kohler (23) and Mattie Gantt (18) combined for 84 percent of the teams assists to help the UTEP offense to a .286 hitting clip. For the defense, Alyssa Sianez recorded a match-high 12 digs and Sakira LaCour stuffed eight blocks (2 solos, 6 assists). In UTEP's season-high 13 aces, Madison Hill claimed five for a personal-best mark.  

UTEP's all-around performance held the statistical advantage in kills (53-46), hitting percentage (.286 - .243), aces (13-3), and blocks (14.5-9).  

Set-by-Set: UTEP 3, Liberty 1 (25-11, 15-25, 25-16, 25-21)  

SET ONE | The Miners came out strong in the opening set as they put up a pair of kills, four straight blocks and an ace to lead 7-2. UTEP continued to stretch the lead with a 5:0 run that consisted of two aces by Madison Hill, 16-5. The Miners had a huge 23-8 lead before Liberty put up three straight points, but an LU error and solo block by Sakira LaCour put the Miners on the board first, 25-11. 

SET TWO | The Flames flipped the script as they held UTEP to only 15 points in the second set. Before either of the teams reached double-digit points, the set consisted of eight tied scores and six lead changes. UTEP went up 9-8 but Liberty handed in a 6-nothing rally to regain the lead. A kill by Lovesee and ace by Hill, shrunk the deficit by three points, 14-11. The Flames gave up four points to the Miners, two errors and two kills to Darley, before securing the set win 25-15 to even out the match. 

SET THREE | UTEP kicked off the third frame with three unanswered points. Liberty knotted the set four times at 5, 6, 8 and 9, but Lovesee and LaCour connected for three straight kills to lead, 12-9. The Miners produced a 5:0 scoring run that consisted of three kills and two aces with a Liberty timeout in the midst, 19-12. UTEP closed the set with five kills and a LU error, 25-16.

SET FOUR | The final set saw 10 tied scores. Liberty won the opening point on a challenge and went up 7-4, but UTEP issued three straight points to even the score at 7-all. Both teams went one-for-one for serves as Liberty held onto the lead. UTEP forced a Liberty timeout after an LU error and Darley block and kill put the Miners up, 13-11. Liberty responded with three straight points to push UTEP into a timeout as the Flames regained the lead, 18-16. UTEP won the set on a 5:0 scoring run that consisted of three kills and two blocks, 25-21.  

"We talked about how we just need to focus on ourselves and play our best volleyball because we were winning with not our best volleyball," Torrance Lovesee said. "We knew we could play better, and we really trusted each other and knew what we were capable of doing." 

"We knew that they were going to play hard volleyball, and I had no doubt in my mind that we were going to win this game," Alianza Darley said. "I looked into everyone's eyes, and we wanted to win. Everyone gave all they had and that's all we need."

 

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