FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. – The UTEP Beach Volleyball team dropped the opening match of the day, falling 5-0 to UAB in the first round of matches of the Conference USA Beach Volleyball Championships at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park.  

UAB got on the board first with a win on court No. 1. The Blazers went on to clinch the match with back-to-back victories at No. 4 and 2. In the final match, Marian Ovalle and Mia Bella Ruiz lost in three sets to the Blazers pair. The teams split the first two sets, but UAB pulled off a quick win in the deciding set to complete the sweep. 

  
Results (Order of Finish: 1, 4, 2*, 3, 5)   

P1 Arden Copping/Jasmine Haas (UAB) def. Sara Pustahija/Krista Paegle (UTEP) 21-12, 21-17 

P2 Brooke Pertuit/Mikayla Law-Heese (UAB) def. Ema Uskokovic/Katie Martin (UTEP) 21-19, 21-17 

P3 Jessica Ennis/Adriana Pereira (UAB) def. Savannah Marenco/Paulina Acuna (UTEP) 25-23, 21-14 

P4 Emma Andraka/Ella Alexander (UAB) def. Serena Patterson/Madison Hill (UTEP) 21-18, 21-19 

P5 Olivia Stant/Olivia Chychrun (UAB) def. Marian Ovalle/Mia Bella Ruiz (UTEP) 21-12, 19-21, 15-10 

UP NEXT  
The Miners face the three seed Tulane in an elimination game Friday (April 28) at 8:30 a.m. MT. With a win UTEP will advance to play the winner of Florida International and Jacksonville State at 11:30 a.m. MT. 

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.