YOUNGSVILLE, La. - The UTEP beach volleyball team split two matches Friday at the Southeastern Sugar Beach Slam. The Miners capped the day with a 4-1 victory over Nicholls, but dropped the tournament opener, 1-4, to New Orleans.
The Miners return to the sand Saturday morning for matches against Spring Hill College and Houston Christian.
Southeastern Sugar Beach Slam (Youngsville, La.)
Saturday, March 18
8 a.m. vs Spring Hill College
10 a.m. vs Houston Christian
^All Times Mountain
Match 1: UNO 4, UTEP 1
New Orleans (UNO) took a 1-0 advantage on court four defeating Aaliyah Austin and Deanna Almaguer in straight sets. Madison Hill and Marian Ovalle evened out the match with a win in the 5's in three sets. The Privateers would go on to win the next three matches with the deciding pair on court one.
Results (Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 1*, 2)
1) Escarte/Ozaeta (UNO) def. Ema Uskokovic/Sara Pustahija (UTEP) 21-15, 22-20
2) Jackson/Spartz (UNO) def. Krista Paegle/Serena Patterson (UTEP) 21-17, 21-14
3) Volpi/Vujnovich (UNO) def. Savannah Marenco/Paulina Acuna (UTEP) 21-13, 21-17
4) de Carvalho Peixe/Echeverri (UNO) def. Austin/Almaguer (UTEP) 21-10, 21-14
5) Hill/Ovalle (UTEP) def. Baumgart/Zecchin (UNO) 20-22, 21-19, 15-12
Match 2: UTEP 4, Nicholls 1
Hill and Ovalle closed the day with a sweep of their own – beating Battistella and Heeb, 21-14, 21-16 – for the Miners' first point of the dual. Austin and Almaguer pushed the match lead to 2-0 with a three-set victory at No. 2. Marenco and Acuna clinched the overall match with a 21-6, 21-13 decision on court three. UTEP tallied its fourth point of the match at the No. 1 spot, a straight-sets victory of Uskokovic and Pustahija.
Results (Order of Finish: 5, 4, 2, 3*, 1)
1) Uskokovic/Pustahija (UTEP) def. Steele, K./Steele, A. (NSU) 21-12, 21-18
2) Jones/Chuong (NSU) def. Paegle/Patterson (UTEP) 21-19, 21-16
3) Marenco/Acuna (UTEP) def. Durant/Wischkaemper (NSU) 21-6, 21-13
4) Austin/Almaguer (UTEP) def. Malone/McKay (NSU) 14-21, 21-14, 15-13
5) Hill/Ovalle (UTEP) def. Battistella/Heeb (NSU) 21-14, 21-16
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.
