YOUNGSVILLE, La. – Madison Hill and Marian Ovalle were the lone pair to pick up a win against Spring Hill College on day two of the Southeastern Sugar Beach Slam on Saturday morning. The UTEP beach volleyball team (3-10) fell to SHC and Houston Christian to close out the weekend at Sugar Beach.
"Today was a tough day; it was cold and windy, and the conditions made it difficult to play our best," Associate Head Coach Daniel Foo said. "We struggled against two good programs (Spring Hills and HCU), but overall, I am proud of the growth of this team. We are getting better every weekend, finding ways to win and compete. I am looking forward to getting back to El Paso to work on something's to make us better before our second trip to UA."
Match 1: Spring Hill College 4, UTEP 1
SHC got on the board first with a win on court four, but the Miners pulled even with a tight three-set match by Madison Hill and Marian Ovalle, the team's No. 5 pair, as they picked up their fifth straight win.
The Sandy Badgers went on to clinch the match with back-to-back victories at No. 3 and 1, respectively. Going into extra points on court 1, Ema Uskokovic and Sara Pustahija dropped a pair of sets to SHC in the clinching decision.
In the final match, Krista Paegle and Serena Patterson lost in three sets to SHC's No. 2 pair.
Results (Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 1*, 2)
1) Fairly, K./Fairly, J. (SHC) def. Uskokovic/Pustahija (UTEP) 21-10, 22-20
2) Boyer/Bell (SHC) def. Paegle/Patterson (UTEP) 16-21, 21-16, 15-6
3) Shappell/Beger (SHC) def. Savannah Marenco/Paulina Acuna (UTEP) 21-18, 21-15
4) Borgmeyer/Hardouin (SHC) def. Aaliyah Austin/Deanna Almaguer (UTEP) 21-14, 21-17
5) Madison Hill/Marian Ovalle (UTEP) def. Weinzapfel/Mascari (SHC) 19-21, 21-16, 17-15
"It was the first time this season that we played consistently well in all five spots," Head Coach Ben Wallis said. "We saw some highlights of some really nice play from some individual pairs but overall, it was a great learning experience for our group to fly out here and play some really good, experienced, and skilled volleyball teams and that's giving us a great indication of what we need to be able to go back into the learning lab with."
Match 2: Houston Christian 5, UTEP 0
HCU took the first point with a win on court four and snatched the second in the 5's. In the No. 2 spot, the Huskies secured the match win and went on to win the remaining two matches, clinching the sweep.
Results (Order of Finish: 4, 5, 2*, 3, 1)
1) Stanfill/Butters (HCU) def. Uskokovic/Pustahija (UTEP) 21-15, 21-17
2) Kleymeyer/Harris (HCU) def. Paegle/Patterson (UTEP) 21-15, 21-16
3) Bufkin/Reinard (HCU) def. Marenco/Acuna (UTEP) 21-18, 21-10
4) Axelrod/Palmer (HCU) def. Austin/Almaguer (UTEP) 21-13, 21-12
5) Alper/Griffth (HCU) def. Hill/Ovalle (UTEP) 21-16, 21-13
"Daniel and I are really proud of Maddie Hill and Marian Ovalle for going 4-1 this week and showing some solid improvement," Wallis said. "It was also great to see Deanna Almaguer and Aaliyah Austin get their first win of the year. We really like coaching this group and just want them to continue to be hungry for progress. There are lots of things to be excited about, but we're learning how we need to close the gap to those really good beach programs as well."
UP NEXT
UTEP will travel back to Tucson, Ariz., to participate in the Wildcat Spring Challenge, March 31-April 1. The Miners will face off against Santa Clara, Colorado Mesa, Missouri State, and Arizona.
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.
