Sept. 25, 2010

Final Stats

UTEP at ECU Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Jacqueline Cason hammered a career-best 13 kills and hit a .565 clip as the UTEP volleyball team powered past East Carolina 3-0 (25-15, 25-15 and 25-14) on Saturday in Greenville, N.C. The two teams will square off again on Sunday at noon.

“The team played really hard and had great energy today,” said head coach Ken Murphy. “We blocked and played great defense and we were able to control most of the ECU offense.”

Stephanie Figueroa had an outstanding performance, posting a match-high 23 digs, her second-best effort of the season. It was her second 20-plus dig match of the season.

“Stephanie played great defense and made a huge impact on the match from her position,” Murphy said.

Kyla Muela also chipped in a stellar defensive performance, posting four blocks for the match. Muela also hammered eight kills.

The Miners came out swinging, hitting .229 in the contest, while keeping the Pirates to a -.047 clip.

Despite the rout, Murphy feels the offense needs to improve for tomorrow’s match.

“We are looking forward to tomorrow,” Murphy said. “We know that we need to execute our offense better than we did today.”

Cason was the only Miner to record double-digit kills, an area Murphy

“We had some trouble connecting with our hitters at times and we need to continue to develop our consistency in that facet of the game,” said Murphy.

UTEP opened with a swift attack, scoring the first point of the match off a kill by Melissa Toth.

With the score knotted at 4-4, Cason hammered a kill to go ahead 5-4. UTEP never looked back, as Muela pounded three kills in UTEP’s 9-3 run to end the frame.

The Miners carried the momentum into the second stanza. With the score 6-4, UTEP pulled another string together as the combination of two aces from Figueroa and three kills by Cason gave the Miners a 13-4 lead. The Pirates could not recover, as UTEP went on to win 25-15.

The Orange and Blue handled the Pirates in the final frame, opening with a 7-1 run. UTEP closed the match on a 10-2 stretch for the win.

---UTEP---