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Women’s basketball season opener vs. Idaho state 1:05 p.m. Nov. 12 at the don haskins center
sports November 10, 2011
editor William Vega, 747-7445
Basketball
Cross-Country
Experienced UTSA opens season for young team UTEP looks By Frankie Rodriguez The Prospector In their first regular-season match, UTEP will take on UT-San Antonio at 7 p.m. Nov. 11 at the Don Haskins Center. For the second year in a row, the Miners will face the task of opening the season against a Division-1 opponent that finished with a 20-win season. This is the fifth time in school history that UTEP has begun a season in such a manner. UTSA is returning 12 letter-winners from last year’s 20-14 season as they won the Southland Conference tournament title, clinching the school’s first 2011 NCAA Tournament berth in any sport. In addition, four of their five starters are back from last year’s team. The Roadrunners beat Alabama State 70-61 in the opening round then fell to top-seed Ohio State 75-46 in the round of 64. Contrary to UTSA, the Miners have the fifth-most inexperienced team in the country. UTEP returns just three letter-winners with their lone senior, forward Gabriel McCulley, out with an injury until Christmas. “We have a brand new group and they have not experienced a D-1 opponent yet. We are just trying to figure out a way to win,” head coach Tim Floyd said. “We are going to go out there and be as competitive as we possibly can and come out with a win and start learning how to win.” To come away with a win, the Miners must slow down the Roadrunners’ top scorers from last year, junior guard Melvin Johnson III and sophomore forward Jeromie Hill. In their exhibition game against Southeastern
Oklahoma State, they combined for 32 points. Last season Johnson III averaged 14.9 a game, while Hill averaged 13.4. “We just have a set based defense we run. We will try to gear things towards the two leading scorers on the team and try to limit those guys as best as we can,” Floyd said. One of the Miners’ struggles has been rebounding, dating back to last season. However, the Roadrunners did not have a player rebounding in 2010-11 in double figures with Hill leading the way with only 6.6 per game. “We have to win the battle on the boards and outrebound them,” freshman center Hooper Vint said. “We have to play great defense, we have to get back on defense and limit turnovers.” This will be the fifth meeting between UTSA and UTEP and the first since 1998, when the Miners defeated the Roadrunners 78-61. UTEP leads the series 4-0, in which three of those were at home. The Miners all-time record against the Southland Conference opponents is 29-2, including 24-1 in El Paso. The only loss came to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 77-72 in 2001. The newcomers have a feel for the collegiate level of play, but have yet to experience the challenges a Division-1 NCAA Tournament opponent will bring. “The season so far is feeling good. It is definitely a different level of basketball coming straight out of high school,” freshman forward Cedrick Lang said. “It is a good experience though and we will keep getting better.”
to qualify for NCAA at regionals By Krystal Oblinger The Prospector
net, get a lot more attempts during a match and play off the things she’s able to do for us.” As a middle blocker her freshman year, Horton was selected to the Conference-USA All-Freshman team and was second in kills for the season. She was also the only freshman ranked in the top-20 in hitting percentage. She also had five contests with five or more blocks that year. Since the move, Horton’s kill performances have seen an increase. She has 20 or more kill performances in the 2011 season and is 10th in the conference with 190. This season, Horton is second with 324 kills and a .185 hitting average, breaking her record last year of 301 kills already. Horton has broken her career highs in kills three times this year. She had 20 against Marshall Sept. 30, 22 against Tulane Oct. 23 and 25 a week later against Houston. She also had career highs with 57 attempted kills against Houston and a season-high seven blocks Oct. 7 against Memphis. “Personally, I think my progression is coming along,” Horton said. “I have such a great team that understands I am learning a new position and that supports me throughout my transition.”
Attempting to qualify for the NCAA Championships Nov. 21, UTEP will travel to Provo, Utah, for the NCAA Mountain Regional Nov. 12 at Terre Haute, Ind. “Initially, we are preparing to get the whole team in the national meet through the regional meet,” head coach Pail Ereng said. “As we competed in the conference meet, we realized that our team wasn’t deep enough, and as we go to the competition, we will have a few individuals place in both the women and men section.” Junior Risper Kimaiyo is the returning champion of the regional after her winning the event in 2010. Kimaiyo not only won the regional, but became the first woman in program history to win an NCAA competition with a course record time of 20:02. During her freshman year at the regional, Kimaiyo helped the team with a fourth-place finish at 20:46 in the 6k run. According to junior Solomon Gardea, who ran at the regional last year in Salt Lake City, Utah, this year’s location could play a factor. Provo is a landscape made up of rocky terrain, cold weather and high altitudes. For most cross-country teams, these add a secondary challenge to the competition to get to the NCAA Championships. “As far as cross-country, we are pretty confident,” Gardea said. “The only thing that could be a factor is that we are not familiar with the course and its high altitude, which affects us. Weather is also a factor, but everyone has to run in those conditions.” At UTEP’s last event, the C-USA Championships Oct. 31, Gardea gained All-Conference USA second team honors with a season-best time of 24:30 and placed 12th in the men’s 8k-championship run. Last season, Gardea took 55th place at the Mountain Regional with a time of 31:30 in the regional. “We have to watch out for individuals from high-ranking teams who did well last year and those who are excelling this year,” Ereng said. “UNM was one of the top programs last year, but this year they are not as high. But they have very deep individuals.” Junior Justice Chirchir is coming off a 2011 C-USA Championship when he finished Oct. 31 with a time of 23:39. Chirchir was the 29th runner across the finish line at last year’s Mountain Regional. “We are really looking forward to the regional competition,” Chirchir said. “Our regionals are very competitive. We are number nine now in the competition and the teams qualifying are going to be extremely difficult, but we are going to try.” Junior Elkana Rotich followed Chirichir back at the C-USA Cham-
see sophomore on page 8
see regionals on page 8
file photo
Junior guard Jacques Steeter attempts a layup during UTEP’s game against Sul Ross State Nov. 5 at the Don Haskins Center. Floyd, being the defensive-minded coach he is, has emphasized that in practices to slow the high scorers on UTSA. “The last couple of days we have been doing a lot of defensive stuff. We put in some new stuff that we have been working on a lot, but mostly just defensive stuff,” Lang said.
According to Floyd, the starting lineup for the Miners is still under evaluation and pending. “We are still in the process of who we can trust in game situations,” Floyd said. Frankie Rodriguez may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.
Volleyball
Sophomore continues career-breaking season By Krystal Oblinger The Prospector
file photo
Sophomore outside hitter Jeane Horton elevates to spike the ball during a game this year at Memorial Gym.
Sophomore Jeane Horton had always been a middle blocker until her position was switched to outside hitter this season. For many, having to learn a new set of systems and a new style of play may be a challenge, but Horton took to the role quickly as head coach Ken Murphy began rotating her in more often to gain leads. “Middle is extremely different from outside in numerous ways,” Horton said. “In the middle, you have a fast and quick arm swing and you have to block all three hitters, where in outside, you only have to really focus on one, and you have to recognize how many blockers you have — where are they lined up at — and then determine what type of arm swing you will use.” What initially sparked this decision was when Murphy observed the middle had a lot of depth among the players, which made him look to see what Horton could accomplish in other places. “We thought if we moved her outside, she’d have to do a few more things that maybe a normal outside hitter didn’t do,” Murphy said. “What it has allowed us to do is give her a lot of sets at different places on the