EL PASO, Texas – The calendar read October 3, and UTEP volleyball gave Club Memorial a performance that was, indeed, so fetch. The Miners controlled the match from start to finish, sweeping UNLV, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-23), on Saturday afternoon
The Miners improved to 11-5 (3-1 MW) while UNLV dropped to 5-10 (1-3 MW).
MATCH SUMMARY
UTEP set the tone early with a dominant opening-set performance and carried that momentum into the second frame to take a commanding two-set lead. The Rebels pushed back throughout the afternoon, but the Miners consistently answered every run and never trailed by more than two points in the third set.
LEADERBOARD
Luvina Oguntimehin paced all players with 12 kills while hitting .450 and posted a match-high 14.5 points.
Kalia Kohler and
Shea Bruntmyer directed the offense with a combined 37 assists, including 23 from Kohler and 14 from Bruntmyer. Bruntmyer also served up a pair of aces. Kohler recorded a match-best 18 digs to secure a double-double, while
Hannah Crowe led all players with five blocks at the net.
SPLITBOX
UTEP controlled the statistical categories throughout the afternoon, finishing with advantages in kills (44-33), assists (41-30), service aces (5-0) and blocks (9.0-8.0). The Rebels narrowly led in digs, 47-41. The Miners' offense produced a .248 hitting percentage while the defense limited UNLV to just a .120 clip.
SET-BY-SET
ONE | UTEP came out like it had a limit and UNLV did not exist. The Miners raced to a 5-1 lead behind three early kills before weathering a Rebel push midway through the frame. Tied at 8-8, UTEP answered with an 11-5 run fueled by kills from
Hannah Crowe,
Ema Uskokovic and
Landry Braziel. Consecutive UNLV errors helped stretch the lead to 22-14 before
Lauren Perry delivered set point opportunities and a Miner block sealed the 25-17 victory. UTEP hit .243 in the opening stanza while holding the Rebels to a -.026 attacking percentage.
TWO | The second set featured a little more resistance from the visitors, but UTEP never surrendered control. Crowe and Perry provided timely kills while
Luvina Oguntimehin repeatedly turned momentum back toward the Orange and Blue. After UNLV trimmed the deficit to one at 16-15, the Miners responded with a 6-3 surge highlighted by kills from Oguntimehin, Braziel and Crowe. UTEP closed the frame with a
Mackenzi Davis kill for a 25-21 win, hitting .263 in the set and converting 72 percent of its sideout chances.
THREE | As every Mean Girls fan knows, October 3 is kind of a big deal, and the third set delivered plenty of drama worthy of the occasion. UNLV built a 20-18 lead late in the frame before the Miners mounted a comeback. A
Caryme Molina service ace ignited the rally, Perry tied the score at 20-20, and Braziel twice put UTEP ahead in the closing moments. After the teams traded points to 23-all, Oguntimehin smashed down match point opportunity No. 1 before Crowe and Uskokovic teamed up for a block on UNLV to finish off the 25-23 victory and complete the sweep.
"I think that our response was really important," Crowe said. "After Thursday's game, we came in and debriefed, but also just moved on. It's important to reflect and talk about what we learned, but we didn't dwell on all the bad things. Rather, we thought about what we had to work on and what we could have used instead, which I think we came out into today and were able to learn from what we messed up on Thursday and execute today."
"We were hungrier, we were ready to compete," head coach
Ben Wallis said. "Unfortunately, this young, inexperienced team took a lesson on Thursday night that anybody can beat you in this conference if you want to try to walk through a match. The response was exceptional. We just got back to work … we were competitive, we knew what we wanted to get accomplished, and I loved seeing my team offensively today, hitting the ball hard, which is what I expected from them.
UP NEXT
UTEP heads to Reno, Nev., for a two-match conference series against Nevada on Oct. 8 and Oct. 10. Both contests will be streamed on MW+.
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