BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - UTEP Volleyball (8-4, 0-1 Conference USA) dropped its conference opener to nationally ranked WKU, 3-1 (26-24, 18-25, 24-26, 14-25) Friday night in Diddle Arena.

Torrance Lovesee racked up 12 kills and three aces hitting for .308. Hande Yetis and Mattie Gantt combined for 46 assists while Alyssa Sianez recorded 17 digs and Kaya Weaver put up four blocks for the defense. 

UTEP recorded a .277 match attack percentage highlighted by a .355 clip in the third set.    

UTEP out blocked the Tops, 8-7, but were outhit in kills (46-63), hitting percentage (.277 - .397), and aces (7-8). 

SET ONE | It was a dog fight in the opening set as the Miners and the Tops produced 14 tied scores that also consisted of five lead changes. UTEP put up a 5-0 scoring run comprised of three WKU errors and an ace and kill from Torrance Lovesee to lead, 9-7. WKU came up 18-17 out of the media timeout, but the Miners snagged the final lead off two kills from Marian Ovalle and a big block by Sara Pustahija. The Tops tied the set four more times, but UTEP slammed down two more kills to take the set, 26-24. 

SET TWO | WKU whipped up two scoring runs in the second set. As the Tops continued to lead throughout the set, the Miners had small spurts to shrink the gap. WKU was up 15-11 at the media timeout, but shortly called for their own sidebar after UTEP drew up a 4-1 run to close in 15-17. The Hilltoppers burst out of the break with four unanswered to pull ahead, 21-15. Sara Pustahija put up UTEP's three final points in the set before the Tops won the set 25-18 to even the match 1-1.

SET THREE | UTEP came out hot in the third frame, holding onto the lead for the majority of the set. UTEP's Coach Wallis won two challenges which credited Torrance Lovesee with kills each time. The Miners led by six, 17-11, but the Tops rallied to come within one after a 6-1 run. UTEP reached set point, 24-20, however the Tops pulled off a 5-0 run to take over as set leader at 25-24. An unfortunate challenge reversed what would have been a tied score at 25-all off Pustahija's kill giving the Tops the 26-24 set win and the 2-1 advantage in the match. 

SET FOUR | The final set was full of emotion on both sides. WKU forced an early UTEP timeout as the Tops led 6-1 and again at 16-9. UTEP put up eight kills as WKU drastically stretched the lead 23-12. Two errors from the Tops gave the Miners their final points before securing the match win 25-14.  

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