UTEP sweep FIU to stay undefeated at home this season
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The UTEP volleyball team remains perfect at home after sweeping FIU 3-0 Sunday afternoon inside Memorial Gym. In addition to the win, UTEP saw an individual accomplishment as senior libero Alyssa Sianez became the 14th player in program history to join the 1,000 Digs Club.
"Pepa (Alyssa Sianez) is so special and is so loved by this city," head coach Ben Wallis said. "We are so excited for her, and she has grown so much as a defender. To get 1,000 digs in her career is really cool. She's one of the best passers in the nation and everybody knows it. The fun part about her is that she's been around for a long time and she's always getting better and that makes me so happy because she could just take the game over for us as a receiver."
The Miners improve to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in Conference USA play while FIU drops to 9-12 (5-3 CUSA).
Alianza Darley hit double-digit kills (10) with a .529 hitting percentage to lead the Miners. Mattie Gantt (20) and Kalia Kohler (18) combined for 38 assists. Torrance Lovesee and Gantt dealt three aces each. For the defense, Kaya Weaver stuffed six blocks while Sianez recorded a match-high nine digs bringing her career total to 1,007.
UTEP's all-around performance held the statistical advantage in kills (45-27), hitting percentage (.461 - .200), aces (10-1) and total blocks (10-2).
SET ONE | UTEP grabbed a 5-1 lead after three consecutive kills and handed in an 8:1 run to pull ahead 13-4. FIU had its own spurt of points but were quickly stopped with a big block by Kaya Weaver and Marian Ovalle, 19-12. A trio of FIU errors aided in lifting UTEP to set point making way for a Mattie Gantt kill, winning the set 25-16.
SET TWO | The second frame saw a different FIU team this weekend holding onto the lead for most of the set. The Panthers kept a cushioned lead forcing UTEP to take an early timeout, 9-4. Both teams went 1:1 for 10 serves until two FIU errors shrunk the deficit for the Miners, 17-15. UTEP took over the set as the Miners delivered nine unanswered points. After giving up a kill to FIU, Alianza Darley came in with a kill to close the set, 25-20.
SET THREE | FIU won the first two points in the final set, however, UTEP responded with six straight points and continued the scoring-run trend throughout the remainder of the match. FIU took its first timeout of the set as UTEP led 11-4 and again at 17-8. Five Miners put up points coming out of the final break, 22-9. UTEP sealed the match with a kill by Darley and back-to-back strikes by Deanna Almaguer to finish off the sweep, 25-10.
UP NEXT
UTEP will travel to Huntsville, Texas to face off against Sam Houston in a pair of matches, Oct. 13-14.
