BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The UTEP Beach Volleyball team had another historic day as the Miners' pair of Serena Patterson and Krista Paegle picked up a win at the No. 2 spot in the lineup against CUI. UTEP opened the weekend with a pair of setbacks at the CSU Bakersfield Tournament at Barnes Beach.
The Miners return to the sand Saturday morning for matches against CSUB and The Master's.
CSUB Tournament (Bakersfield, Calif./Barnes Beach)
Saturday, March 11
11 a.m. vs CSUB
1 p.m. vs The Master's
All Times Mountain
Match 1: CSU Bakersfield 5, UTEP 0
Katie Martin and Krista Paegle were the only pair for UTEP to win the opening set as CSUB took the first sets on courts 2-6. The Roadrunners jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Shields and Bubelis dropped a result at No. 4 pairs.
CSUB clinched the match via a 21-9, 21-16 win at No. 5 pairs by Moore and Gilbert over Madison Hilla and Marian Ovalle.
Martin and Paegle were the lone pair to go to three sets.
Results (Order of Finish: 4, 2, 6, 5*, 3, 1)
1) Brandstetter/Makonova (CSUB) def. Martin/Paegle (UTEP) 22-24, 21-19, 15-13
2) Hladyniuk/Erteltova (CSUB) def. Sara Pustahija/Ema Uskokovic (UTEP) 21-13, 21-15
3) Almeida/McCluskey (CSUB) def. Serena Patterson/Savannah Marenco (UTEP) 21-17, 21-14
4) Shields/Bubelis (CSUB) def. Paulina Acuna/Aaliyah Austin (UTEP) 21-17, 21-18
5) Moore/Gilbert (CSUB) def. Hill/Ovalle (UTEP) 21-9, 21-15
6) EXT. Calvin/Cooper (CSUB) def. Mattie Gantt/Deanna Almaguer (UTEP) 21-13, 21-16
Match 2: Concordia 4, UTEP 1
Concordia got on the board first with a win on court four, but the Miners pulled even with a straight-set sweep (21-15, 21-17) by Patterson and Paegle, the team's No. 2 pair.
The Eagles went to clinch the match with back-to-back victories at No. 5 and 3, respectively. Going into extra points on court three, Acuna and Marenco dropped a pair of sets to CUI's Ostojic and Smith in the clinching decision.
In the final match of the day, Pustahija and Uskokovic lost in three sets to the Eagles' top pair of Phair and Highstreet.
Results (Order of Finish: 4, 2, 5, 3*, 1)
1) Phair/Highstreet (CUI) def. Pustahija/Uskokovic (UTEP) 21-18, 17-21, 15-13
2) Paegle/Patterson (UTEP) def. Ryan/Giusta (CUI) 21-15, 21-17
3) Ostojic/Smith (CUI) def. Acuna/Marenco (UTEP) 21-17, 24-22
4) Lemoine/Prewitt (CUI) def. Austin/Gantt (UTEP) 21-15, 21-12
5) Dyer/Moreno (CUI) def. Hill/Ovalle (UTEP) 21-12, 21-12
Final Thoughts from Coach Wallis
"The weather was tough to deal with today – lots of rain. We saw some good things from a lot of different pairs again. Close losses in a few pairs and mother nature didn't help us out at all, but we're learning a ton about the complexities as well as our deficiencies in partnerships. We also are seeing improvement in serval ways on the fly and it's tough to try and learn while competing but that's the name of the game with our group right now. Try and compete to win, but learn, grow, solve the problems, and gather as much experience as possible. We'll get dry, watch the video, and be ready to go tomorrow. Proud of SP (Patterson) and Krista (Paegle) for getting the first win and sweep in program history – really fun to watch."
UP NEXT
The Miners will take on the Roadrunners again at 11 a.m. MT and The Master's at 1 p.m. MT on Saturday, March 11.
For complete coverage of UTEP Beach Volleyball, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @utepbeachvb (Instagram) and @UTEPBeachVB (Twitter) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.
