Amy Sanders

Sept. 5, 2008

It’s Game Time
The Miners head north this weekend to take part in North Dakota State’s Doublewood Inn Classic in Fargo, N.D. UTEP will open the tournament with a matchup against Illinois-Chicago on Friday at 9 a.m. (MT). The Miners will see Northern Colorado in their second match of the day scheduled for 3 p.m. and will conclude the invitational on Saturday against host North Dakota State at 9 a.m. at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

Scouting Illinois-Chicago
The teams have met four previous times and the Miners have defeated the Flames in all four matches. The last time was a 3-1 victory at the USF Best Western Invitational in Tampa, Fla. in 2006. UIC comes into the game after a 1-1 weekend at the Chicagoland Challenge where they fell, 3-0, to Northwestern and defeated DePaul in five games.

The Flames were led by senior Christin Hunt who earned All-Tournament team honors after totaling 22 kills and a team-best .340 hitting percentage.

Scouting Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado comes into the Doublewood Inn Classic with a perfect 4-0 record after last weekend’s LaSalle Tournament. The Bears opened the season with a 3-2 win over Villanova and swept through Rider, Lafayette and LaSalle in 3-0 matches. Middle blocker Allison Raguse was named the tournament’s MVP, the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week and a CVU Top 10 National Performer. Raguse finished the tournament with 45 kills including 3.21 kills per set in four games and .552 hitting percentage through the tournament.

The Miners hold a 7-4 all-time record against the Bears, the teams have not met since 1982.

Scouting North Dakota
North Dakota began the 2008 season 2-1 at the University of Montana Tournament with a loss to UC Riverside, 2-3, and wins over Gonzaga, 3-2, and Montana, 3-0. Freshman Jennifer Lopez was tabbed at the tournament MVP, while Brooke VandenBergh earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Lopez finished the weekend with 32 kills, 25 digs and four blocks. VandenBergh led the Bison with 15 kills off the bench in a come-from-behind win over Gonzaga. Both tallied 11 kills against Montana and combined for a .463 hitting percentage with only three errors in 41 attempts.

The teams met for the first time in 2007, the Bison defeated the Miners in five games at the Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso.

The 2008 Miners
UTEP returns five starters from the 2007 season, in the form of outside hitters Catherine Chavez and Amy Sanders; middle blockers Aidan Mooney and Daidre Mendehall; and Patty Jarmoc at setter. Six newcomers will reinforce the nine returning letterwinners.   

Two-year veterans Chavez and Sanders led the team in kills last season and will provide the leadership at that position. A starter in every match, Sanders’ team-leading 399 kills placed her third in UTEP annals for a single season. Chavez finished second in kills (311) and digs (332) with respective averages of 2.99 and 3.19.

A trio of talented middles made up of senior Keisha Hyman-Gifth, Mendenhall and Mooney will be bolstered with the arrival of newcomers Cassandra Burruel and Kelsey Moore. Mooney’s 89 blocks, 1.07 per game, led all Miners, while Jarmoc finished second on the team with 76 blocks and 41 aces.

All-Tournament Team
Senior Daidre Mendenhall and junior Catherine Chavez were named to the 2008 Sun Bowl Invitational All-Tournament team this past weekend. The honor was Chavez’s second consecutive and Mendenhall’s first.

Chavez recorded consecutive double-doubles against Butler and New Jersey Institute of Technology and finished the weekend leading all Miners in the attacks and kills (36) category with a .301 hitting percentage.

Mendenhall registered a team-high 13 blocks in three matches, and ranked third amongst all Miners in kills with 28.

Leading C-USA
Freshman Marie-Therese Joyce, who recorded her first three starts in a Miner uniform, finished the weekend with seven serving aces, enough to lead all league players in that category.

Mendenhall’s eight blocks against Butler in the season opener tie two others for the lead amongst all conference players.

The Natives
The Miners have five natives on the roster this season - Irma Blanco, Catherine Chavez, Jennifer Nolasco, Sara Rodarte and Amy Sanders. Blanco, Nolasco, Chavez and Sanders are from Bel Air, Horizon, Eastwood and Burges, respectively...three are juniors (Blanco, Chavez and Sanders), Nolasco enters her sophomore season, while Rodarte is the only newcomer to the team. Chavez, Nolaso and Sanders all played for the club team - Sun Spots - coached by UTEP assistant, Angela Mooney.

Oh Canada!
Aidan Mooney and Patty Jarmoc are Canadian natives...the Miners have not had a northern neighbor on the team since Krystal Gabriel during the 2003 season...Gabriel, a setter, left after just one season with the Miners. In addition, new assistant coach Azadeh Boroumand joins the Miners from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.

There’s No Place Like Home
The Miners totaled 4,404 fans during the 2007 season averaging 550 fans at home per match. UTEP registered five home matches over the 500 mark - vs. Texas Southern (623), North Dakota State (819), Tulane (568), Memphis (602) and SMU (593).