SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA volleyball team is back in action Thursday night, as it is set to host the UTEP Miners in the final home match of the season. The match will also double as senior night as the Roadrunners will honor three student-athletes – Hunter Coppola, Courtney Walters and Mia Ybarra – for their contributions to UTSA. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on CUSA.tv.
The Roadrunners (7-17, 2-10) are looking to make some late-season noise and pull off the upset over UTEP as they have a chance to earn a spot in the Conference USA Tournament. The Miners (14-11, 8-4) are currently in third place in the conference and can wrap up the third seed with a win and a UAB loss.
The two teams will be meeting for the second time this season as they last met on October 21 in a match in El Paso where the Miners won 3-0.
Leading the Roadrunners
The Roadrunners are led offensively by junior Rutgers transfer Cansu Günaydin who leads the team in both points (289.5) and kills (257) while being second on the team in aces (19). Günaydin has also tallied 180 digs, the second most on the team, and has 23 total blocks. She has appeared in all but one set on the season for the Roadrunners and has been the go-to offensive threat.
Just one Roadrunner has appeared in all 92 sets this season. Freshman Ava Camacho has not only played in every set, but also leads the team with 381 digs, the fourth most in the conference, and has tallied the most digs amongst any C-USA player in a five-set match (40) and a four-set match (31). Camacho was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3. Camacho also has 13 aces on the season, the third most by any UTSA player.
Junior middle blocker Alicia Coppedge has appeared in 88 sets on the season. Coppedge boasts 208.5 points on 166 kills as she sits second on the team in each category. On the defensive side of the net Coppedge leads all Roadrunners with 79 total blocks (six solo) and has 13 digs.
Senior setter Courtney Walters continues to set up her teammates, as the McKinney, Texas native has 594 assists on the season. Her 594 assists are the ninth most in the conference and Walters holds the second-most assists in a match by any C-USA player this season as she tallied 60 against McNeese earlier in the year.
Junior outside hitter Kelsey Carpenter is one of six Roadrunners who have over 100 points and 100 kills as the Midlothian, Texas native has 155.5 points with 136 kills. Her 1.97 kills per set are the fourth most on the team and are just behind senior Hunter Coppola who has come on late and averages 1.98 per set. Freshman Katelyn Krienke averages 2.01 kills per set, the second most on the team, and has tallied 179.5 points and also has 155 kills to date.
Scouting UTEP
The Miners are led by an offensive trio consisting of three student-athletes who all have over 285 points and 220 kills. Torrance Lovesee (246), Serena Patterson (244) and Sara Pustahija (221) lead UTEP in kills and are the engine that makes the Miners go.
UTEP boasts a pair of setters who each have over 440 assists on the season as both Mattie Gantt (477) and Hande Yetis (445) each average at least 4.7 assists per set. Pustahija, Hula Crisostomo and Gantt all have over 30 aces on the season as UTEP has the second most aces in C-USA as a team this year.
On the defensive side of the net, Crisostomo leads the Miners with 388 digs while Alianza Darley leads UTEP with 114 total blocks. Darley has the second most blocks in all of conference USA and is behind Sh'Diamond Holly (129).
Series History
UTSA and UTEP will meet for the 52nd time in program history this Thursday as the Roadrunners hold the all-time series advantage, 26-25. The series is one of the oldest for UTSA, as the first matchup between the two schools came back in 1983. UTEP has won four of the last five meetings against UTSA. The Roadrunners are 12-9 against UTEP in games played in San Antonio.
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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