FORT WORTH, Texas - The UTEP Beach Volleyball team dropped a pair of tough results to wrap up its regular season at the TCU Invitational, falling 5-0 to Texas A&M – Corpus Christi before succumbing to the host #1 TCU, 5-0, Saturday afternoon. 

"This was a challenging weekend," Associate Head Coach Daniel Foo said. "We are consistently getting better every week. We are challenging top beach programs in all 5 pairs, but we are just struggling to find the wins we need. Each week we are getting closer, and we are very excited for the break before the conference tournament to get healthy and get to work on those areas that we are struggling with." 

Match 1: TAMUCC 5, UTEP 0 

TAMUCC got on the board first with a win on court No. 5. The Islanders went on to clinch the match with back-to-back victories at No. 2 and 3. In the final match, Serena Patterson and Madison Hill lost in three sets to the Islanders pair. The teams split the first two sets, but the Islanders pulled off a quick win in the deciding set. 

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

1) Power/Poletti Corrales (TAMUCC) def. Krista Paegle/Katie Martin (UTEP) 21-13, 21-15 

2) Bobay/Tome (TAMUCC) def. Sara Pustahija/Ema Uskokovic (UTEP) 21-13, 22-20 

3) Bennett/Johnson (TAMUCC) def. Paulina Acuna/Savannah Marenco (UTEP) 21-10, 21-13 

4) Fernandes de Melo/Doyle (TAMUCC) def. Serena Patterson/Madison Hill (UTEP) 19-21, 21-19, 15-5 

5) Slusser/Moreno (TAMUCC) def. Mia Bella Ruiz/Marian Ovalle (UTEP) 21-12, 21-14 

EX) Kostroun/Barnes (TAMUCC) def. Aaliyah Austin/Deanna Almaguer (UTEP) 21-13, 21-8 

Match 2: #1 TCU 5, UTEP 0  

Taking on its third ranked opponent of the season, UTEP dropped the first sets on all five courts. TCU took the first point with a win on court five and tabbed a second win in the 4's. TCU stayed undefeated as it clinched the dual win on court two and completed the sweep in the 1's and 3's to blank the Miners. 

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

1) Alvarez/Moreno (TCU) def. Martin/Paegle (UTEP) 21-9, 21-12 

2) Privett/Patton (TCU) def. Pustahija/Uskokovic (UTEP) 21-17, 21-12 

3) MacTavish/Vergara (TCU) def. Marenco/Acuna (UTEP) 21-10, 21-18 

4) Scott/Brockett (TCU) def. Hill/Patterson (UTEP) 21-14, 21-14 

5) Sek/Corinne Frist (TCU) def. Ovalle/Ruiz (UTEP) 21-9, 21-10 

EX) Araco/Polk (TCU) def. Austin/Almaguer (UTEP) 21-13, 21-17 

Final Thoughts from Coach Wallis 
"In our toughest tournament of the year so far, we struggled to find the team-wins, but we saw several pairs throughout the weekend showcase a lot of progress that we've been making in the last three to four weeks. All six of our pairs showcased different levels of improvement in skills and problem-solving abilities. It was a lot of fun to coach against four really good beach volleyball teams this weekend. We continue to measure ourselves each week and we really got challenged in Fort Worth, Texas, but the progress that our team is showing is exciting and we're looking forward to resting our bodies in preparation for the Conference USA tournament at the end of April. We've made lots of progress, though still not enough to get the team wins, but Miner Beach Volleyball is moving in the right direction for sure." 
 
UP NEXT 
UTEP will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to compete in the Conference USA Championships, April 27-29. 
 

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.