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Sept. 16, 2010
FOR STARTERS UTEP volleyball heads to Arlington, Texas to take part in the UT Arlington Hilton Invitational on Friday and Saturday in its final tune-up before the start of Conference USA play. The Miners, who are seeking their 500th victory in program history, open with tournament host UT-Arlington on Friday and follow with North Texas and Prairie View A&M on Saturday.
UTEP is paced by senior setter, Patty Jarmoc, who climbed into second-place in the Miners’ all-time career assists record book with 3,504 career helpers after garnering MVP honors at the UTSA Classic last weekend. Other notables include Stephanie Figueroa and Jacqueline Cason who were also all-tournament selections. Figueroa posted a career-best 25 digs against UTSA and Cason pounded 27 kills while hitting a .299 clip.
MINERS ON THE INTERNET UTEP versus UT-Arlington will be broadcast live via livestats www.utepathletics.com. Its matches versus North Texas and Prairie View A&M are still yet to be determined. Fans can tune in to www.utamavs.com for more information.
LOOKING AHEAD UTEP opens conference play with two contests at East Carolina Sept. 25 and 26 before heading to Houston to face Rice on Oct. 1. After nearly a month away, the Miners return to Memorial Gym on Oct. 3 for their league home opener against Houston, the start of a three-match home stand. UTEP will challenge Marshall on Oct. 8 and 9 in Memorial Gym.
SCOUTING UTA SERIES RECORD: UT Arlington leads the series 1-2. All three meetings have come at the UT Arlington Invitational in 1985, 1993 and 1999. The Miners have come out victorious just once on the Mavericks’ home court, a 3-1 triumph on Sept. 4, 1993. The last meeting came on Sept. 3, 1999 with the Miners falling 3-1. UTEP is 6-4 all-time at the invite. UTEP is 1-0 versus the Southland Conference after toppling UTSA 3-2. MAVS NOTABLES: UTA is 3-8 heading into the invitational, including a 3-1 record at home. Its only loss came in a 3-1decision against Mississippi State. UTA opened its 2010 slate 0-3 with losses to Miami, Oklahoma and Witchita State and five of the eight losses have been 3-0 sweeps. The Mavericks are looking to bounce back from a 0-4 weekend at the Wyoming Classic over the weekend. Tara Frantz, a first team All-Southland Conference selection a year ago, and Eld-hah Kasutuka lead the Maverick’s offense. Frantz ranks first on the squad in kills with 88 while averaging 2.44 per set and Kasutuka ranks second with 78. Look for Regan Daniel to run the offense as she has posted 309 assists for the season, four aces, 48 kills, 92 digs and 17 blocks. UTA’s Alicia Shaeffer leads the defensive backcourt with 129 digs, while Emily Shearin leads the stops at the net with 42 total blocks. THE LAST TIME UTEP fell 3-1 to the Mavericks on Sept. 3, 1999 with scores of 4-16, 19-17, 12-15 and 10-15. Two Mavericks hit over 20 kills for the match, while UTEP’s Stacy Zimmerman tallied 24. UTEP was outnumbered in every category except for service aces – 6-4. UTA hit .271 for the match, never dipping below the .200 clip, including a .419 clip in the fourth set. UTEP’s Krista Gronert and Zimmerman each posted double-doubles for the match, Gronert with 45 assists and 12 digs and Zimmeran notched 24 kills and 11 digs. Two other Miners’ registered double-digit digs for the match (Natalie Marquell, 12; Catherine Porter, 12), but defensively, UTA was all over the ball, picking up 82 digs to UTEP’s 68 and putting up 12 blocks to the Miners’ eight.
SCOUTING NORTH TEXAS SERIES RECORD: The Miners lead North Texas 7-2. The last time the pair battled on the volleyball court was at Texas Tech’s Red Raider Round-Up, where the Miners swept the Mean Green, 3-0. MEAN GREEN NOTABLES: After opening the season 5-2, North Texas has gone 1-3 on the season to open its 2010 slate. Amy Huddleson leads the UNT attack, collecting 148 kills (3.70 per set) and ranks second on the team in digs with 103. The senior OH has also chipped in six total blocks and four aces for the Mean Green. Underclassman Rachelle Wilson plays the middle, and ranks second in kills with 101 while hitting a team-best .275 clip and producing a squad-high of 31 total blocks. This week’s SB Conference Defensive Player of the Week, Sara Willey leads the defensive effort with 191 digs (4.44 per set). She has also contributed 34 assists and eight aces. The offense if run by junior setter Kayla Saey who has posted 459 assists, 30 kills and ranks first in aces with 12 and third in blocks with 20. THE LAST TIME Freshman libero Brittany Stowers set a UTEP record while landing a spot in the NCAA recordbooks, as the Miners downed North Texas 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-19) on Sept. 10, 2004 at Texas Tech’s Red Raider Round-Up. Stowers recorded 36 digs against the Mean Green, breaking the UTEP record held by Mascha Van Wynen since 1991 and placing her in a three way tie at No. 4 in the NCAA recordbooks for digs in a three-game match. Junior Kari Stacy also produced a stellar performance in the match, recording 21 kills, five digs and one ace. Christie Murphy and Ashley Ripple each tallied five blocks and Katie Smith chipped in 47 assists. . The Miners hit .232 for the match and held the Mean Green to .122.
SCOUTING PRAIRIE VIEW A&M SERIES RECORD: The Miners are 3-0 all-time against Prairie View A&M. UTEP won the last meeting on Aug. 31, 2007, a 3-0 sweep at the Texas Southern Tournament. PANTHER NOTABLES: The Panthers are 2-8 for 2010 including a 1-4 record on neutral turf. Prairie View A&M’s only victories came at the hand of Arkansas-Pine Bluff and New Orleans. The Panthers are led by the SWAC Player of the Week, Cheri Lindsay. Lindsay has 104 kills on the season to lead the Panthers and ranks second in aces (7) and digs (89). Jasmine Hales leads the defense with 144 digs and a team-best eight aces and Sharonda Marshall has put up a team-leading 30 blocks. THE LAST TIME UTEP's offense was explosive in its 2-0 sweep versus PVAMU, as UTEP hit above the .500 for all three games in the sweep, including .577 in the third game. The Miners slammed 53 kills for the match, more than doubling that of the Panthers (23). The Orange and Blue held Prairie View to hitting just .052. Christie Murphy led the Miners with 14 kills and Amy Sanders also chipped in a double-digit kill performance with 12.
CLIMBING THE LADDER Patty Jarmoc combined for 108 assists at the UTSA Classic, to move in her into second-place on UTEP's all-time career charts. The senior setter has 3,504 for her career, surpassing ReeDee Granado who posted 3,409 from 1993-96. The Canadian needs 707 assists to close her senior campaign as UTEP's all-time leader, a record that has stood for 19 years. The current record holder, Chris Brandl, posted 4,210 during her tenure from 1988-1991. Jarmoc’s 3,504 career helpers rank her 17th among the Conference USA career charts.
Career Total ASSISTS 4,210 Chris Brandl 88, 89, 90, 91 3,504 Patty Jarmoc 07,08,09, 10 3,409 ReeDee Granado 93, 94, 95, 96 3,386 Veronica Acosta 96, 97, 98, 00 2,843 Katie Smith 04, 05, 06
THE OTHER LADDER Patty Jarmoc has also propelled herself atop UTEP’s career ace annals. Jarmoc collected two aces over the weekend to bring her career total to 117, a feat that ranks fifth in UTEP’s career charts. The senior from Canada needs 32 aces in her final campaign to oust Chris Brandl from atop the leaderboard.
Career Total Service Aces 148 Chris Brandl 88, 89, 90, 91 137 Catherine Porter 96, 97, 98, 99 133 Jennifer Abbruzzese 00, 01, 02, 03 122 Amy Sanders 06, 07, 08, 09 117 Patty Jarmoc 07, 08, 09, 10
PROGRAM REACHES A MILESTONE The UTEP squad is seeking a milestone in Arlington, Texas. The Miners need just one victory to give the program its 500th win in its 36-year history. There is only one other sport at UTEP that has accumulated more than 500 victories in a season; Men’s Basketball currently has 1,211 triumphs in its storied program. Women’s basketball, who opened its inaugural campaign alongside volleyball in 1974, has just 402 in the same time frame.
FIRST 10! DO IT AGAIN! UTEP is 7-3 after 10 contests in 2010. The Miners have only started 7-3 or better in a season just 12 times since the 1974 inaugural campaign. UTEP has accomplished the feat twice under current head coach Ken Murphy (2009) second to only Norm Brandl who registered nine campaigns with a 7-3 or better start. Scott Swanson, who was at UTEP from 2002-05, had one campaign – 2005 (8-2).
IT’S IN THE TRIFECTA The Miners are 3-0 on Saturday’s going into the UT Arlington Hilton Invitational with wins over Gardner-Webb, Charleston Southern and UT-Pan American. The squad along with the UTEP football and soccer programs, have formed a trifecta of undefeated teams at UTEP. Football heads into the weekend 1-0 on Saturdays as does soccer.
UTEP IN THE NATIONS RANKS The volleyball squad has put up a stellar defense at the net in 2010. The Miners, who finished 28th nationally in blocks per set (2.6) in 2010, have picked up where they left off a season ago. The Miners are currently ranked 21st in the nation in blocks per set, averaging 2.7 this campaign. The Miners have totaled 94.5 total blocks compared with 68.5 of their opponents. UTEP currently ranks first in Conference USA in blocks per set.
CAN’T GET PAST HERE UTEP ranks 21st nationally in blocks per set averaging 2.7. Kyla Muela leads the charge with 44 total blocks, averaging 1.33 net stops per set. The tally places her 29th nationally while standing atop C-USA’s charts. Jeane Horton ranks second on the squad in blocks per set, averaging 1.09 per frame while Patty Jarmoc ranks second in total blocks behind Muela with 34.
MUELA IN THE RECORDS Kyla Muela etched her name in UTEP’s recordbooks over the weekend with her stellar performance at the net against UTSA. Muela recorded nine total blocks – all blocks assists - against the Roadrunners that ties for fifth in the Miners’ charts for total blocks and block assists in a five set match.
MVP – MOST VALUABLE PATTY, STEPHANIE & JACQUIE Patty Jarmoc was named the UTSA Classic Most Valuable Player after leading the Miners to the tournament title. Stephanie Figueroa and Jacqueline Cason were selected to the all-tournament squad. Jarmoc produced 108 assists for the tournament, while also contributing 11 kills, two aces, 32 digs and 16 total blocks. Figueroa averaged 4.0 digs per set, totaling 48 for the tournament and chipped in seven assists and two aces. Cason hammered 27 kills (2.25 per set) at the invite while hitting a .299 clip for the weekend. Cason was also a force at the net, putting up 11 total blocks.
BREAK ON THROUGH The Miners have never been ones for four-set matches. In fact, they had lost 11-consecutive four-game matches dating to Oct. 19, 2008, when they defeated East Carolina in Memorial Gym. UTEP broke through the plateau in its 3-1 defeat of Gardner-Webb in its 2010 debut and followed with a 3-1 triumph against UT Pan American at the UTSA Classic.
GO FIGUER-OA UTEP’s libero, Stephanie Figueroa was tabbed to the UTSA Classic All-Tournament team over the weekend. Go figure. The Puerto Rican native average 4.00 digs per set for the tournament, recording a total of 48 for the weekend. Figueroa notched two double-digit dig performances at the invite, including a career-high 25 against tournament host UTSA. In total, Figueroa has tallied seven double-figure dig performances in seven of UTEP’s 10 matches.
SWING, SWING, SWING, FROM THE TANGLES OF THE BALL IS CRUSHED Perhaps the All-American Rejects weren’t singing about redshirt freshman, Melissa Toth, but Toth does know how to swing and crush the volleyball. Averaging 3.88 kills per set, Toth leads the Miners with 124 total kills. The feat ranks her seventh in C-USA. Toth doesn’t just crush the ball at the net. The Arizona native does it at the service line as well. She has laced 13 total aces in 2010, the only player in double digits, including five in the Miners’ match against Davidson a week ago. Toth’s aces rank third in Conference USA.
32 FLAVORS “Squint your eyes and look closer.” It’s true freshman Jacqueline Cason. “You might want to turn your head” when it comes to Cason. The hitter is one of just three players on the squad to have played in all 35 sets for UTEP. Cason ranks first on the team in hitting efficiency with .344. The clip includes three contests over .500 (Delaware State, .615 (8-0-13); NC Central, .889 (8-0-9); Davidson, .571 (8-0-14). Cason has hit over .300 in six of 10 matches, ranking fifth in Conference USA. Cason ranks second on the team in kills with 77 and has chipped in 27 blocks (1S/26A), nine digs and an ace. As songwriter Ani DiFranco said, “a thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy,” for this freshman.
CONFERENCE SHAKES IT UP A new Conference USA volleyball format for schedule begins in 2010. The league eliminated its conference championship. The league’s teams will now play 20 conference matches instead of 16. The regular-season champion will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
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