by El Paso, Texas – The UTEP volleyball team fell, 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-16) against C-USA newcomer Western Kentucky in Memorial Gym on Sunday afternoon.
UTEP drops to 4-16 overall, and 2-7 in Conference USA while WKU moves to 20-5, and 8-1 in the league.
Naomi Whitehair (Navajo), a defensive specialist for the UTEP Miners had 6 digs on the afternoon.
The Orange and Blue were the first to put up points on the bored as the Miners capitalized off consecutive WKU errors. However, a UTEP attack error sparked 4-0 run to give the Lady Toppers a 7-5 lead. Western Kentucky would extend its advantage to 11-6 forcing UTEP to a timeout.
Regrouped the Miners went on a 5-2 rally to get only two points behind the Lady Toppers. Unfortunately, despite a great offensive effort with only two errors and a 51 percent conversion rate, UTEP could not break WKU’s advantage. The Lady Toppers would claim the set, 25-19.
UTEP developed an offensive rhythm in the second stanza, as the Miners found 31 attempts along the net. Yet, a 11-3 opening lead for the Lady Toppers would allow Western Kentucky to maintain its advantage, take the second set to WKU, 25-14.
The third set proved to be the decisive frame in the match. The squads tied the set nine times with seven lead changes before the Lady Toppers went on a 14-2 rally. WKU would uphold its advantage cruising to a 25-16 set win.
The Miners will return to the court on Oct. 26th as they travel to West Virginia to face off against Marshall.
