EL PASO, Texas – UTEP volleyball swept Pacific, 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-19), Friday night at Club Memorial to open the Borderland Classic. The Miners improved to 6-1 on the season, while the Tigers fell to 4-3.
MATCH SUMMARY
UTEP controlled the match from start to finish, hitting .278 as a team while limiting Pacific to a .151 hitting percentage. The Miners also held the advantage in kills, assists, aces and digs to secure their sixth win of the season and remain unbeaten at Club Memorial.
LEADERBOARD
SPLITBOX
UTEP held the statistical advantage across nearly every category, finishing with more kills (41-32), assists (38-30), aces (11-1) and digs (41-40). Both teams recorded 8.0 total blocks, while the Miners held a 3-1 edge in solo blocks. UTEP hit .278 as a team and held Pacific to a .151 hitting percentage.
SET-BY-SET
ONE | The Miners battled through an early back-and-forth before taking control midway through the opening set. Kills from multiple Miners kept UTEP within striking distance before a
Lauren Perry ace and consecutive blocks helped spark a 7-1 run.
Mackenzi Davis added a solo block and a kill during the stretch as UTEP took a 12-9 lead. Davis continued to provide a spark offensively, while
Hannah Crowe registered three kills during the late stages of the frame.
Daisy Voskuhl and Amos capped the run with a kill and ace, respectively, before UTEP kill and Pacific attack error finished off the set, 25-17.
TWO | UTEP opened the second set with a Davis kill before the Tigers answered, setting up another tightly contested frame. The Miners landed multiple kills as the teams remained within one point of each other through the early stages. With the score tied at 17-17, Widmer delivered back-to-back aces to give UTEP an 18-17 advantage. Voskuhl followed with a kill, and blocks from Amos and Crowe extended the lead to 20-17. Amos added another kill before a Pacific attack error pushed the Miners ahead 22-18. Crowe delivered one more kill at 24-22 before a Pacific attack error gave UTEP the set, 25-22, and a 2-0 match lead.
THREE | The Miners carried their momentum into the third set, with Amos and Crowe providing early kills before Crowe added an ace to help UTEP keep pace. Widmer continued her strong serving performance with back-to-back aces, and Braziel and Crowe added kills to keep the Miners within striking distance. With the score tied at 11-11, Perry served consecutive aces to give UTEP a 13-11 lead. Amos followed with a kill, while
Lexee Salas added an ace to push the advantage to 15-12. The Miners maintained control from there as
Elizabeth Pickett recorded her first career kill while Davis added two kills late in the frame before Amos closed out the match with the final shot, giving UTEP the 25-19 set victory and a 3-0 sweep.
"We didn't play clean enough over the course of the whole match, but you still saw really good components of good volleyball," head coach
Ben Wallis said. "We hit .278, which is indicative of the way we passed it, and I really liked the way we served it at times. We knew we couldn't get aced against this team, and to get 11 aces in three sets is what we expected. I'm proud of our freshmen tonight and the way they stepped in and contributed. You see the talent oozing out of Laila, Daisy was really good offensively, and Bella was a lot of fun to coach. We also got some of our veterans some rest, and Caryme and Shea did a good job in there. We've got four good setters, and being able to get everybody some burn and still get the victory was really good to see."
UP NEXT
UTEP continues the Borderland Classic on Saturday, Sept. 12, against UC San Diego at 3pm MT at The Club.
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