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UTEP volleyball tops Colorado State, to host Weber State in quarterfinals of NIVC

bret bloomquist, el paso times
·2 min read

UTEP’s greatest-ever volleyball season just got better and now it’s marching back to El Paso.

The Miners completed their run through the regional rounds of the NIVC volleyball tournament, beating host Colorado State 25-22, 12-25, 25-18, 25-19 Friday night in the second round.

They stayed on a roll, winning a bid to host a quarterfinal game Tuesday night at 7:30. p.m. against Weber State in Memorial Gym, which will also host a quarterfinal game between UNLV and tournament No. 1 seed Arkansas at 5 p.m. Memorial Gym could host a weekend semifinal should UTEP win.

UTEP come together after scoring a point against CSU during their game, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at Moby Arena.
UTEP come together after scoring a point against CSU during their game, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at Moby Arena.

A day after beating Tulsa in their first postseason match, the Miners improved to 23-7.

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Coach Ben Wallis said this was among his program’s finest moments.

“One of them,” Wallis said “We beat the Mountain West regular season champion on their home floor. They hadn’t lost in 30 sets on their home court, that’s a tough place to play.

“And we completely dismantled them. This is special. This is a hungry team that wants to win this thing. They are excited to continue playing with each other. We’re in the Elite 8 of a major post season tournament.”

UTEP celebrates their win against CSU, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at Moby Arena.
UTEP celebrates their win against CSU, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, at Moby Arena.

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As for the match with CSU, “I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group.,” Wallis said. “This team just keeps punching and punching. We were so good defensively.

“They (CSU) out-aced us by one, but we stayed tough at the service line. We got punched in the mouth in the second set, but we came back in the third and fourth sets and just never stopped competing. We just kept pressuring them and got them off-balanced.”

As a result, the Miners’ post-season journey marches on.

More: NIVC bracket

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP volleyball tops Colorado State, to host Weber State in quarters