Southern Miss
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UTEP
Volleyball Team Claims 3-1 Win Over UTEP
10/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 11, 2009
EL PASO, Texas - The Southern Miss volleyball team downed UTEP 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21) in Conference USA action Sunday, improving to 18-3 overall and 6-1 in league play.
"UTEP played a good match," Coach Ricci Luyties said. "They came out in the first set and put a lot of pressure on our passers with tough serves. The team didn't get down on themselves and continued to improve throughout the match. It was the second match in a row that Angela played well for us."
Senior outside hitter Angela Hlavaty led the Eagle offensive attack with 15 kills, while Ashley Mell and Caitlin Clarke added 10 kills each. Kelsea Seymour added another double-double with 37 assists and a team-high 13 digs.
UTEP put the first points on the board before Southern Miss scored four-straight to take a 4-2 lead in the opening set. UTEP then used an 8-2 run, taking a lead they would not relinquish. Even though Southern Miss rallied to tie the match at 12-12, the Miners outscored the Eagles 13-4 to close out the set, 25-18.
The Golden Eagles bounced back to take the second set, tying the match 1-1. USM popped out to a 2-0 lead before UTEP tied it at 2-2. Southern Miss then scored three consecutive points, pushing the lead to 5-2. UTEP rallied using an 8-3 run to regain the lead at 12-10. The Golden Eagles fought back as Halie Ecker ignited a 5-1 run with a kill and ace for a 15-13 lead. From there, Southern Miss pushed its lead to 21-16 and eventually grabbing a 25-21 win.
The Eagles ran out to an 11-5 lead to start the third set. UTEP then put together a 14-7 rally to knot things up at 18-18. Mell and Hlavaty put down back-to-back kills to aid in scoring four consecutive points for a 2-18 lead. USM held on for the 25-21 win.
UTEP started the fourth set strong, running out to a 7-3 lead. The Golden Eagles fought back to cut the lead to 10-9 behind a combination of kills from Clarke, Sarah Jane Bowden and Mell. UTEP ran the score to 13-10 before Southern Miss regrouped to take an 18-17 lead using an 8-4 run. UTEP's Irma Blanco put down a kill to tie the set at 18-18. From there, the Eagles took advantage of back-to-back attack errors by the Miners for a 20-18 lead. UTEP answered with kills by Catherine Chavez and Aidian Mooney to knot the set at 20-20. Hlavaty then sparked 5-1 run down the stretch to seal the 25-21 win.
Amy Sanders led the Miners with a match-high 20 kills to go with 17 digs and Chavez added 17 kills and 12 digs.
Southern Miss returns home to begin a four-match homestand, beginning with Houston, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.
