Community Champions: UTEP volleyball prepares for quarterfinal match against Clemson

(Courtesy: UTEP Athletics)

EL PASO, Texas - As the last standing Conference USA team in postseason play, the UTEP Volleyball team (23-9) is gearing up for an exhilarating showdown as they face off against Clemson in a highly anticipated rematch on Wednesday, December 6, at 7:00 p.m. MT.

The clash is set to unfold inside Memorial Gym, serving as the stage for the NIVC Quarterfinals once again.  

TICKETS  

Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students and can be purchased through the Eisenberg Family Ticket Office by calling (915) 747-UTEP, emailing tickets@utep.edu, visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or in person at 201 Glory Road (Brumbelow Building, UTEP campus) Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.    

SCHEDULE             

Wednesday, Dec. 6 | Quarterfinals  
Match 33 vs. Clemson – 7 pm MT | Stream: ESPN+ | Live Stats   

HITTING WITH CONSISTENCY              

UTEP is hitting .272 paced by eight Miners who are killing it at or above the mark. Danika Washington (.387) leads the team among players with at least 190 kills. The UTEP offense sits 23rd in the nation in hitting percentage.          

BLOCK PARTY             

The Miners registered a season-high 18 blocks in the 3-1 win against San Francisco on Aug. 31. UTEP posted at least 10 blocks on 22 occasions – most recently stuffing 10 blocks against UT Arlington in the second round of the NIVC. Kaya Weaver (156.0) leads the charge among players with at least 85 blocks. Nationally, UTEP is sixth in team total blocks (325.5) and 17th in blocks per set (2.69).    

BALANCED ATTACK            

UTEP showed a balanced attack in the first two rounds of the NIVC against North Texas and UT Arlington with two Miners blasting home at least 2.0 kills per set. Alianza Darley (27 kills, 3.38/set) led the charge with Torrance Lovesee (22 kills, 2.75/set) getting after it as well.  

IN THE CUSA SPOTLIGHT          

UTEP's Kaya Weaver landed on the 2023 All-Conference First Team, with Alianza Darley and Danika Washington securing spots on the Second Team and Kalia Kohler being selected for the All-Freshman Team.    

• Kaya Weaver: two-time Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 9; Nov. 13)    
• Alianza Darley: three-time All-CUSA (2021, 2022, 2023)    
• Danika Washington: two-time Defensive Player of the Week (Sep. 11; Oct. 23)    
• Kalia Kohler: four-time Freshman of the Week (Sep. 11; Oct. 2, 23, Nov. 13); Co-Setter of the Week (Oct. 9)    

OFF THE COURT      

UTEP's Alianza Darley, Alyssa Sianez, and Torrance Lovesee were selected to the 11-member 2023 Conference USA Volleyball All-Academic Team.    

• Alianza Darley: 4.0 GPA, MA Leadership Studies    
• Alyssa Sianez: 3.5 GPA, Mathematics    
• Torrance Lovesee: 3.78 GPA Biological Sciences    

MINER RANKINGS         

Nationally, UTEP is ranked in the top 100 in eight categories:  
 
5. Team Service Aces (253)*  
6. Team Total Blocks (325.5)*  
12. Aces per Set (1.94)*  
17. Blocks per Set (2.69)*  
23. Hitting Percentage (0.272)  
48. Match W-L Pct. (0.719)  
64. Team Assists (1,424)  
67. Team Kills (1,528)  
* Conference USA leader  

THE OPPONENT        

Clemson  

• Clemson is entering the weekend at 19-13  
• Adria Powell leads the way for Clemson in total blocks (149) and in blocks per set (1.28). Azyah Dailey contributed 67 blocks to follow Powell. 
• Dailey leads Clemson with 240 kills and 25 attacks with a .221 hitting clip.   
• Mckenna Slavik paced the team with 943 assists while Devan Taylor posted 432 digs  
• Clemson makes its third appearance in the NIVC and holds a 4-2 record in the annual tournament. The Tigers won a pair of home matches in 2018 over Alabama A&M (3-0) in the first round and Radford (3-1) in the second before it fell to College of Charleston (0-3) in the quarterfinals. Clemson dropped the opening round last season to Toledo (1-3)  
• Clemson's 19 wins ties for the most in a single season since 2018 when Clemson finished the regular season with 17 and ended the season with 19 following two wins in the NIVC Tournament   
• The Tigers recorded their 900th victory in program history after defeating Virginia Tech in Jervey Gym on Oct. 1, 2023 - happened in the 46th year of competition.  
• The Miners and the Tigers first met earlier this season at the Tulane Invitational when Clemson earned its victory via reverse sweep.   

For all their accomplishments this season.

The UTEP volleyball team is this week's Community Champions.

Community Champions is sponsored by Albertsons and the El Paso Community Foundation.