UTEP Volleyball Upended at WKU 

BOWLING GREEN, Kentucky (KVIA) - UTEP Volleyball (8-5, 0-2 Conference USA) fell in three sets to nationally ranked WKU, 3-0 (25-27, 13-25, 14-25) Saturday afternoon in Diddle Arena. 

Alianza paced the Miners with seven kills and four blocks. Mattie Gantt racked up 16 assists and two aces while Torrance Lovesee recorded seven digs. 

SET ONE | Another scrappy opening set was a full-on battle between UTEP and WKU. The Miners produced three scoring runs to take the 15-13 lead at the media break that consisted of seven kills. WKU ran up four unanswered points to regain the lead, 20-19. UTEP reached set point off a big block by Sakira LaCour and Danika Washington, 24-22. The Tops rallied to go 5-1, taking the set 27-25. 

SET TWO | The Hilltoppers had full control in the second set jumping to a 15-4 lead forcing two UTEP timeouts while only giving up one point to the Miners off their own error. UTEP broke out of the break with a kill by Marian Ovalle with Mattie Gantt and Torrance Lovesee putting up points as well. WKU’s 4-0 run stretched the lead 21-8, just before Alianza Darley went big at the net for two back-to-back blocks to shrink the deficit, 21-11. The Miners put down two more kills before the Tops locked in the set win, 25-13.

SET THREE | With UTEP down by three early on, the Miners racked up two big blocks by Kaya Weaver, a kill by Alianza Darley and an ace from Kalia Kohler with a WKU error to regain the lead at 10-9. The Hilltoppers produced two big scoring runs to pull away and lock in the match win, 25-14. 

UP NEXT 

After being on the road for three weeks, the Miners are back home in Memorial Gym as they take on Jax State, Sep. 28 & 30.