UTEP Volleyball Falls Short on Senior Night

EL PASO ? The UTEP volleyball team fell to UCF, 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-21) in their final match of the 2011 season on Tuesday in Memorial Gym. The Miners conclude the season 19-14 and 9-11 in C-USA play while UCF improved to 20-11 and 12-8 in league action.

Senior Stephanie Figueroa, who was honored prior to the match, recorded a match-high 16 digs and three assists. Marie-Therese Joyce, who was also honored contributed six kills, three digs, three block assists and hit .385.

UTEP?s Bridget Logan led the team with seven kills and posted a .214 hitting percentage. Sophomore Xitlali Herrera registered six kills, seven digs and three block assists.

Paced by Angelica Crump?s match-high 18 kills, the Knights hammered 47 kills to UTEP?s 27. Senior Rachel Vukson tallied a match-high 41 assists, nine digs and two service aces.

UCF jumped out to a 5-1 advantage with a pair of kills by Crump, but two Knight errors put the Miners on the board 4-7. UCF went on a 7-0 run with back-to-back kills by Delaina Sarden and four UTEP errors to make it 14-4 and force a Miners timeout. UTEP would come as close as 20-12, but UCF went on to close the set 25-13.

The Knights ran away with a 10-4 lead to open the second frame. UCF went on a 5-1 run with two kills by Sarden. The Miners did not relent and went on a 4-1 run with back-to-back Knight errors and a pair of kills by Jeane Horton and Logan. UCF would not go away easily and a kill by Evija Vilde sealed the set, 25-20.

Both teams went back and forth in the third set, but the Miners went on a 4-1 run with a service ace by Joyce and a pair of attack errors by Crump, forcing a Knights timeout. But UCF would not back down and went on a 5-1 run with a trio of kills by Crump to make it 12-13. Both teams traded points until the Knights went on a 5-1 run to seal the match 25-21. The final set saw 11 ties and four lead changes and the Miners hit a .241 average.

Source: UTEP Athletics