SAN ANTONIO – UTSA fell to UTEP in its final home match of the season on Thursday evening, 3-1 (26-24, 15-25, 13-25, 11-25), in front of 1,083 spectators at the Convocation Center
The Roadrunners (7-18, 2-11) were led by Cansu Günaydin who had seven kills and a dig while both Kelsey Carpenter and senior Hunter Coppola each tallied six. Coppola was one of three seniors who were honored postgame; however, she was the only one who was able to suit up as both Courtney Walters and Mia Ybarra were out with injuries.
UTEP (15-11, 9-4) won its second straight match Thursday evening, as the pair of Sara Pustahija and Torrance Lovesee were a force, combing to tally 25 kills for the Miners. UTEP's setter combo of Hande Yetis and Ashlynn Barnes combined for 41 assists on the night. Lovesee had four aces and Kaya Weaver had eight total blocks.
First Set (UTSA 26-24 UTEP)
Both teams started the match trading blows, as the first set featured 13 different ties with neither team able to claim an early edge. Eventually, UTEP pulled out in front by four, 18-14, and forced UTSA to burn its first timeout of the set. The Roadrunners were able to close the gap a bit, lowering the deficit to two and trailing 19-17 as UTEP called its first timeout. From there, the two teams traded punches and eventually found themselves at 24 apiece and the set went to bonus action. It didn't last long, however, as UTSA ripped off two quick points to seal the set and win 26-24. Carpenter had a set-high five kills while both Ava Camacho and Caroline Krueger had seven digs.
Second Set (UTEP 25-15 UTSA)
The Miners brought it back in the second set, winning the stanza by ten and evening up the match at one-all. The Roadrunners battled early, but UTEP proved to be too much, closing the set on a 10-6 run to earn the set victory. Günaydin and Hlady each had two kills and Mekaila Aupiu had six assists.
Third Set (UTEP 25-13 UTSA)
UTEP kept its foot on the gas in the third set, jumping out to an early 9-4 lead, forcing UTSA to call timeout. The break didn't deter the Miners though as they continued their torrid attack and pushed their lead to 21-10 before taking the set 25-13. The Miner defense held UTSA to just five kills in the set.
Fourth Set (UTEP 25-11 UTSA)
The Miners carried their set three momentum in the third, racing out to a 10-1 lead over the Roadrunners, ripping off a 9-0 run in the process. UTSA battled back and was able to cut the lead to six, 12-6, which forced UTEP to call timeout. Coming out of the timeout, UTEP was able to put a finishing run together and outscore UTSA 13-5 over the next span of the set and take the match.
Up Next
The Roadrunners will have their final regular season competition this Saturday on the road at Louisiana Tech. The match is scheduled to begin at noon and will be broadcast on CUSA.tv.
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