Patterson’s 16 Kills lift Miners to victory
The UTEP volleyball team (10-11, 3-5) swept Marshall (12-9, 3-5) in three sets (25-19, 25-20, 25-23), 3-0, behind Serena Patterson’s 16 kills on Friday evening at Memorial Gym.
Patterson was dominant for the Orange and Blue with 16 kills on a .325 hitting clip. The sophomore also racked up 13 digs for a double-double.
Anamarija Mikovic locked in double-digit kills with 10. Freshman Alianza Darley hit .667 on the night with eight kills. Syenna Masaki produced a double-double for UTEP with 17 assists and 10 digs.
Defensively, Kenidy Howard shouldered the workload with a team-high five blocks.
UTEP found itself down 12-7 early in the first set. However, a block by Mikovic and Mallory Yost sparked a 10-0 run. The Miners never looked back, and took the set, 25-19.
The second frame was all knotted up at 9-9 when Izela Alvarez gave the edge to UTEP with some aggressive serving. The 3-0 run may have seemed small, but it gave all of the momentum to the Miners the rest of the way. Patterson capped off the set, 25-20, with a vicious kill off a beautiful ball from Masaki.
The score was tied at 4-4 in the third set, but a 17-minute delay occurred due to a lighting issue in Memorial Gym. Despite the stoppage-of-play, the Miners stayed strong in the frame. The Thundering Herd took a 23-22 lead late, but UTEP was unrelenting.
Jessica Landeros came up huge with a kill to tie the game, and then she got in on a huge block with Howard to take a one-point lead, 24-23. Mikovic would complete the sweep with one of her five kills in the set.
Next up, the Miners will play at WKU on Sunday, November 1 at 5 p.m. MT.
Notes
>> First double-digit win season since 2013
>> First time the Miners have complete two-conference sweeps in a season since 2013
>>UTEP has doubled its win total from last season
