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Aug. 27, 2010
UTEP vs. Delaware State Box Score
UTEP at North Carolina Central Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. - The UTEP volleyball team opened its 2010 campaign with a pair of 3-0 victories over Delaware State and North Carolina Central on Friday at the Hilton RTP/NCCU Tournament held in Durham, N.C. UTEP dropped a 3-1 decision to Elon to finish 2-1 to start the season. "We sided out pretty well today and saw some very good things out of our young players," said head coach Ken Murphy. Redshirt freshman Melissa Toth had a stellar showing, combining for a team-high 32 kills (4.57 per set) for the day. She also posted 16 digs and had three total blocks. Freshman Jackie Cason chipped in 26 kills and hit a team-best .523. She contributed six blocks and Stephanie Figueroa, a junior transfer from Puerto Rico, tallied 41 digs to average 4.10 digs per set for the day. As a team, UTEP registered 144 kills while hitting .332. The Miners held the net, averaging 2.20 blocks per set, including 11 from senior Kyla Muela. UTEP averaged five and a half more kills per set (16.0-10.5) and hit .438 in the Miners' 3-0 victories over Delaware State and NCCU. UTEP's 3-1 loss to Elon was not without a fight as the Miners took the Phoenix to the limit, falling 26-24 in the final two sets of the match. "We had some trouble putting enough service and blocking pressure on Elon," Murphy said. "If we had created one or two more opportunities it would have changed the match completely. I'm sure we will get better at closing out close matches with more experience." UTEP closes out the invite against Gardner-Webb and Charleston Southern on Saturday. They return to action with a pair of matches against I-10 rival New Mexico State. The first meeting is schedules for Fri., Sept. 3 in Las Cruces. UTEP hosts the Aggies in its season home opener on Tues., Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gym. UTEP 3, Delaware State 0 Toth collected 17 kills in her UTEP debut, leading the Miners past Delaware State, 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-6), to open the Miners' 2010 campaign. Toth also picked up 10 digs en route to UTEP's first double-double performance of the season. Figueroa recorded 16 digs and Cason hit a team-best .615 (8-0-13) in the sweep. The Miners (1-0) showed their strength at the net, slamming 52 kills to hit .450 for the match. UTEP held DSU to just 32 Ks and forced 18 errors to push a .135 hitting percentage from the Hornets. UTEP's frontcourt showed poise, going error-less in the first set, hitting a match-high .571 (16-0-28) in UTEP's 25-14 victory. Down 4-3, Kyla Muela rattled off a string of five points to propel the Miners to an 8-4 advantage. UTEP led by as many as 10 points as they put away the Hornets for win. Delaware State tested UTEP's mettle in the second set, opening with a 2-0 lead. Toth forced the sideout with the first of nine kills, giving the Miner's their first point of the set. With UTEP trailing 3-2, the Hornets added to their lead going up 6-2 off back-to-back kills by DSU's Megan McDonald. The Miners caught up to tie at 9-9 after Patty Jarmoc set up Toth for the kill. UTEP took a 12-10 lead. Ahead 19-15, the Hornets took advantage of a trio of attack errors by the Miners, while Delaware State's Sarah Wheatcroft and Jessica Croucher took control the Hornets' net attack. They combined for four points to tie at 22-22. After a back-and-fourth nail-biter throughout the set, the Hornets had match point at 24-22. Toth added her final kill of the set to bring the score to 24-23, sparking a UTEP comeback. Jennifer Nolasco served out the set with an ace and back-to-back kills by Muela and Jarmoc closed the set. The Miners dominated the third frame riding on two 8-0 runs. Toth opened the set, scoring the first point. Stephanie Figueroa served seven straight before a siding out. Two points later, UTEP had the ball and put in a string of four to go ahead 12-2. The Hornets collapsed, as the Orange and Blue collected the final eight points to win, 25-6. Elon 3, UTEP 1 UTEP suffered its first setback of the season on Friday, dropping a 3-1 decision to Elon. It was a heartbreak loss, as the Miners fell 26-24 in the final two sets of the match. The Phoenix took the first set 25-13 but the Miners bounced back to win the second set, 26-24, before losing 26-24 in the third and fourth sets. The two teams exchanged the lead 12 times and witnessed 34 ties, including 13 and 14 draws in the second and third stanzas, respectively. Toth and Cason each posted double-digit kills with 15 and 10, respectively. Figueroa put up a good defensive effort recording 19 digs. Three Miners tallied four blocks - Patty Jarmoc, Jeane Horton and Muela - as the squad combined to put up 10 total stops at the net. Despite the performances, the Miners struggled on offense, hitting just .184 for the match, including a .000 clip in the first set. Elon came out swinging as four players reached double-digit kill performances. The Phoenix's Sarah Schermerhorn was 14-of-19 with no errors to hit .737. Also in on the offensive attack were Caroline Lemke (14), Traci Stewart (14) and Allison Johnson (11).
UTEP 3, North Carolina Central 0 After experiencing a setback to Elon, the Miners bounced back with full force, winning 3-0 over tournament host North Carolina Central. After hitting .286 in the opening frame, the Miners improved as the match went on, hitting .444 in the second and finished with .565 in the third. The Miners held NCCU to .115 for the match. M.T. Joyce and Cason posted nine and eight kills, respectively and Horton was not far behind with seven. Muela continued her defensive dominance at the net, putting up five block assists. She also had six kills and hit .500 in the nightcap. The Eagles were first to score off a UTEP attack error. The Miners quickly answered as Joyce put down a kill off a dish from Jarmoc. NCCU answered back with three points but UTEP fired back, utilizing two attack errors and a kill by Jarmoc to go ahead 5-4. With the score 9-8 in UTEP's favor, Horton pounded back-to-back kills to cushion UTEP's lead. But the Eagles remained close and took a 16-15 advantage off of a service ace by NCCU's Belinda Behncke-Biney. Horton answered back for the Miners, knotting the set at 16. Back-to-back errors put the Miners ahead by two and UTEP never looked back, going on to win the set, 25-22. Joyce pounded a kill to open the third game. A sideout later, she added another slam to her tally. The Miners led the majority of the set but the Eagles knotted the game at 15 off an attack error by Joyce. It was all NCCU could muster. With Joyce at the service line, the Miners scored 10 unanswered points to win 25-15.
 
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