UTEP Volleyball faces South Florida in NIVC Semifinal

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- UTEP volleyball will square off against South Florida in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship semifinals scheduled for Sunday, December 10, at 1:30pm MT inside Memorial Gym. 

Adding to the postseason excitement, fans have eagerly snatched up every available ticket with the match declared officially sold out. The atmosphere is sure to be electric as these two powerhouse teams vie for a coveted spot in the NIVC finals.

SCHEDULE             
Sunday, Dec. 10 | Semifinals 
Match 34 vs. South Florida– 1:30 pm MT | Stream: ESPN+ | Live Stats   

HITTING WITH CONSISTENCY              
UTEP is hitting .270 paced by seven Miners who are killing it at or above the mark. Kaya Weaver (.376) leads the team among players with at least 200 kills. The UTEP offense sits 25th 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 23 occasions – most recently stuffing 14 blocks against Clemson in the NIVC quarterfinals. Kaya Weaver (164.0) leads the charge among players with at least 85 blocks. Nationally, UTEP is second in team total blocks (339.5) and 13th in blocks per set (2.72).    

BALANCED ATTACK            
UTEP showed a balanced attack in the NIVC quarterfinals against Clemson with four Miners blasting home at least 2.0 kills per set. Marian Ovalle (13 kills, 3.25/set) led the charge with Torrance Lovesee, Alianza Darley, and Kaya Weaver 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 nine categories:  
2. Team Total Blocks (339.5)* 
3. Team Service Aces (243)* 
12. Aces per Set (1.94)* 
13. Blocks per Set (2.72)* 
25. Hitting Percentage (0.270) 
42. Match W-L Percentage (0.727) 
47. Team Assists (1,472) 
54. Team Kills (1,581) 
94. Opp Hitting Percentage (0.192) 
* Conference USA leader  

UTEP has five players ranked in the top 10 in five categories in the conference:    

 
THE OPPONENT       
South Florida 

• USF is entering the weekend at 22-11 
• After earning their fourth NIVC bid last Sunday, South Florida has continued their historic season, winning the first three rounds and moving onto the Fab 4, only the second time in program history. 
• Setter Caroline Dykes has dished out a total of 3,008 assists in her career. She reached the milestone in the third set against Georgia Southern with a kill from Niki Khoshatefeh.  
• After her two service aces against St. John’s, Dykes is now two aces away from serving 100 in her career. 
• USF leads the all-time series against UTEP, 1-0, with the lone meeting back in 2006.