UTPA SPLITS AT INDEPENDENT CHAMPIONSHIPS, TIES BEST RECORD EVER
Contact: Dave Geringer, UTPA Sports Information Director, (956) 381-2240

FORT WAYNE, IN-The University of Texas-Pan American's volleyball team split their matches and tied their best record ever on the second and final day of competition at the Independent Championships Saturday. The Lady Broncs defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 30-19, 30-21 and 30-20; then fell to host Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, 30-28, 30-13 and 31-29 at the Gates Sports Center.

With the split, Texas-Pan American finished the season at 19-15. The Lady Broncs finished with an identical record during the 1996 season.

Senior outside hitter Jaclyn Muszynski (Walnut, CA/Walnut HS) led the Lady Broncs in the match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Muszynski had 13 kills and 12 digs, while hitting .219. Junior outside hitter Cathi Netemeyer (Los Fresnos, TX/Los Fresnos HS/Iowa) had 11 kills and hit .550, while freshman outside hitter Heather Bravo (Las Vegas, NV/Durango HS) had 11 kills and hit .269. Freshman libero Carol Marcengo (Curitiba, Brazil/SPEI HS) had 17 digs.

Lauren Smith had seven kills for the Islanders, while Melanie Travis added six. Kaley Rombs had 13 digs for TAMU-CC, which was out hit by the Lady Broncs, .270-.188.

Muszynski and sophomore middle blocker Stephanie Redd (Seguin, TX/Seguin HS) each had 10 kills against the Mastodons. Muszynski added 10 digs, Marcengo had 20, sophomore middle blocker Danielle Holthe (Covina, CA/Bishop Amat Memorial HS) had four blocks, and Redd had three. Freshman outside hitter Chrissie Carrigan (Victoria, BC/Mount Douglas SS) added six kills and hit .455.

Fabiana Souza had 15 kills for IPFW, and Janelle Pollard added 10.

Marcengo finished with 56 digs in four matches and was UTPA's representative on the All-Tournament Team.

Fabiana Souza had 15 kills for IPFW, and Janelle Pollard added 10.

"We bounced back and took care of business against Corpus Christi," said UTPA Head Coach Dave Thorn. "Everyone stepped up and contributed, and we had some big kills at some key moments. Against IPFW, We came to play in the first and third games and we just couldn't get those last few points. Our inexperience showed. If we can keep everything going, we have a great nucleus. It's been an exciting season, and we definitely took another step forward."

Muszynski finished her four-year UTPA career by breaking her own single-season record for kills. She ended the season with 460, breaking the mark of 453 she set last year. She also finished her career with 1627 kills, and is the first Lady Bronc player to break the 1600 barrier.

Marcengo and Redd each played in 126 games this season, one short of Enith Villalobos' record of 127 set in 2000.

Texas-Pan American broke single season team records for kills, assists and digs. The Lady Broncs had 1907 kills, breaking the previous mark of 1751. Texas-Pan American also had 1664 assists, breaking the record of 1569, and 2192 digs, surpassing the previous mark of 1954. All three of the records had been held by the 2000 UTPA team.

Saturday's action concluded the season for the Lady Broncs.

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