In their last match of the season the UTEP women’s volleyball lost to Texas Christian University at Memorial Gym 3-1 (25-17, 16-25, 25-20, 25-19).
The match started as a back and forth affair through the first 10 points, but TCU would go on a 6-2 run to take control of the first set. The Miners would counter with a small run of their own, but TCU would widen the margin, and at one point led by 11 points.
The Miners would close the gap to make the margin respectable but TCU would close out the first set 25-17 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set was much like the first set, except this time the Miners would take control of the set with a 10-2 run. TCU tried to close the gap, but the Miners stood firm to take the second set by a nine-point margin. UTEP head coach Holly Watts attributed the dominant second set to great serving and defense.
“A lot of that was us serving tough and digging balls,” Watts said. “We kept giving ourselves a chance to swing again.”
Coming out of the 10-minute intermission the Miners stood firm from a great TCU start, the Horned Frogs created a five point gap early one, but the Miners slowly but surely closed the gap. When the Miners finally crept back into the match TCU was just to strong—with the set tied at 18-18 TCU would go on a 7-2 run to close out the set 25-20.
“It just slipped away,” Watts said. “Our consistency again is just an ongoing issue. We have to use all this and count it for experience.”
In very similar fashion to the third set, the Miners were right in the thick of things in the fourth set. Once again though with the set going into the latter stages TCU proved to be to strong for the Miners— with TCU leading 16-14 they would finish of the Miners with a 9-5 run.
The Miners have now finished the season with a 6-23 record, the six wins is the fewest since the 1999 season and the 23 losses are the most since 2008. The Miners overall win percentage of .206 is the worst since the 1999 season.
Despite the Miners last match not having any relevance coach Watts was proud of the effort the Miners put forth in the match and the season.
“In general I am pleased with the effort,” Watts said. “This match that doesn’t mean anything, its hard to come out and play. It means something to us as a team because we need to be able to us it to get better. It doesn’t mean anything from the outside looking in, its hard to understand.”
Javier Cortez may be reached at [email protected].
