Miners volleyball fall in three sets to Rice
The Miners fell to Rice, 3-0 (21-25, 18-25, 19 -25) on Sunday in Memorial Gym. UTEP is now 7-15 overall and 1-7 in C-USA action.
Senior Talia Jones led the Miners’ offense as she hammered 12 kills, two digs and two blocks. Junior Lindsey Larson registered 23 assists, seven digs, six blocks, three kills and two service aces. UTEP’s defense was led by libero Sarah Villa who secured 16 digs.
The squads opened the match exchanging point for point as they tied six times with two lead changes. A kill by Madison McDaniel triggered a 5-1 run by the Owls claiming the first set 25-21.
Both teams went back and forth tying the score eight times in the second frame. However, four consecutive kills gave the Owls a 17-13 lead and never looked back. Rice took the second set 25-18 and gained a 2-0 match lead going into intermission.
Rice would go on to take the third set, 25-19 as it held UTEP to a .000 hitting percentage.
“I think as a whole we are still making strides. I hate that it is the middle of October and we are still calling ourselves young. We don’t want to do that,” said head coach Holly Watts. “It is still a process of chemistry and everything but we need to continue to try and get it all together.”
UTEP volleyball will take on I-10 rival NM State at 7 p.m. (MT) in Las Cruces, N.M. on Tuesday .
