For years, the UTEP volleyball team has been climbing the Conference USA mountain , knowing full well what the top of it looks like.
All that stands between the Miners and where they want to be is Western Kentucky , and in a competitive but ultimately tough weekend, they saw that the Hilltoppers still hold the top of the hill.
UTEP took a big swing at WKU Saturday, Oct. 26, in Memorial Gym, threatening Western Kentucky’s 86-game CUSA win streak, but when the Miners forced a decisive fifth set — winning time — the Hilltoppers showed them how far they still have to go in a 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-27, 15-8 victory.
Western Kentucky also beat UTEP in four sets on Friday, Oct. 25, continuing a league-winning streak that started against the Miners in 2018. The Hilltoppers did it with a commanding fifth set.
Quoting coach Ben Wallis
“I’m tired of being close, tired of being close,” coach Ben Wallis said after his team fell to 20-4 overall, 10-2 in CUSA. “We’ve been close for a couple of years. The difference between our team and them right now is they hit the ball hard in the fifth set and decided they were going to go up and get higher and nastier and grittier.