UTEP Volleyball punch their ticket to the NIVC Championship game with straight set win over South Florida
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- UTEP Volleyball have taken the city by storm the last few weeks and Sunday was no different. The Miners in front of another sold out crowd beat South Florida in straight sets (25-14, 26-24, 25-13) to secure a spot in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship game.
Tuesday against Wichita State at 7 p.m in memorial gym will be the first postseason championship game the Miners have ever played in.
The Miners won the first set but were down by as many as five points in the second set and faced back-to-back set points but they managed to come back from it all and win the second 26-24 and the momentum of that set win and the crowd carried them to a straight-set victory.
"They're giving us everything they've got and they're giving this crowd everything they've got and it really means a lot to me I know how much they're hurting but they're super competitive and they want to win a championship for this city and this program," Head Coach Ben Wallis. "I'm emotional about it because to see that crowd and to see the way they're responding to my team it means a lot it just means a lot that they support our team the way they do."
It was a stellar showing from UTEP who had just four attacking errors and hit .475 with 42 kills. Alianza Darley had 12 of those kills which saw her grab her 1,000th of her career on Sunday.
"It's amazing, that was one of the goals I set and so it's really nice to finally be able to reach it and all the hard work I've put in across the five years I've been here pay off," Darley said. "When I sat down with Ben on my recruiting visit he wanted to change this program into a championship winning program and it's just so awesome that this is UTEP Volleyball's first championship game of something, we're just so very blessed to be here."
The straight set win on Sunday is the Miners 14th win at home this season which sees them stay undefeated in memorial gym in 2023.
The Miners will be back at home on Tuesday against Wichita State in the NIVC Championship game at 7 p.m. you can attempt to buy tickets but as of the writing of this article it looks like tickets are already sold out.
