BOISE, Idaho – UTEP beach volleyball dropped both duals to open play at the Boise State Beach Classic on Friday at the Boise State Beach Volleyball Complex. The Miners fell 4-1 to Santa Clara in the morning dual before coming up just short in a 3-2 decision against CSUN later in the day.

With the losses, UTEP moves to 7-15 on the season.

DUAL 1 Santa Clara 4, UTEP 1

In the opening dual against Santa Clara, UTEP struck first with a strong showing on court two as the pair of Mila Popovic and Kennedy Llewellyn secured a three-set victory to give the Miners an early 1-0 lead. Santa Clara responded by evening the dual on court four with a straight-set win before taking a 2-1 advantage via a withdrawal on court one. The Broncos clinched the dual on court three with a three-set decision and added an additional point on court five in straight sets to finalize the 4-1 result.

Results (order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 3*, 5)

1. Snipes/Cukjati (SCU) def. Paulina Acuna/Madison Hill (UTEP) 21-14, wr
2. Llewellyn/Popovic (UTEP) def. Niederman/Hansen (SCU) 19-21, 21-18, 15-7
3. Wood/Wilson (SCU) def. Krista Paegle/Avere Threet (UTEP) 17-21, 21-13, 15-11
4. Urbina/Gilliland (SCU) def. Iana Loera/Emma Schubert (UTEP) 21-10, 21-16
5. Chillingworth/Cantlen (SCU) def. Evelina Krieva/Mia Theisler (UTEP) 21-16, 21-15

DUAL 2 CSUN 3, UTEP 2

UTEP once again opened the scoring in its second dual of the day against CSUN, earning a point on court two. CSUN answered with a win on court four to even the score before taking a 2-1 lead with a victory on court one. The Matadors clinched the dual on court three, but the Miners closed the match on a high note with a win on court five to bring the final score to 3-2.

Results (order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 3*, 5)

1. Heflin/Miles (CSUN) def. Llewellyn/Popovic (UTEP) 21-13, 21-19
2. Acuna/Paegle (UTEP) def. Mendiola/Henderson (CSUN) 21-11, 21-11
3. Rogers/Hall (CSUN) def. Loera/Threet (UTEP) 21-13, 21-14
4. Rodig/Patrick (CSUN) def. Krieva/Schubert (UTEP) 21-19, 22-20
5. Alexa Gonzalez Monreal/Adriana Oporto (UTEP) def. Coggins/Halbert (CSUN) 21-15, 21-19

UP NEXT

UTEP will continue competition at the Boise State Beach Classic on Saturday, April 4. The Miners are set to face Oregon at 8:30 a.m. MDT before taking on No. 25 Boise State at 12:30 p.m. MDT. The afternoon dual against the Broncos will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.

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