Seniors leave lasting impression on the court

Seniors middle blocker Marie-Therese Joyce and libero Stephanie Figueroa stood in a team huddle after the final match of their career in a 3-0 loss to UCF Nov. 22 at Memorial Gym. With tears collecting in both girls' eyes, they hugged their fans and stood on the court with their team to yell "Miners" one last time.

"I have a mix of emotions right now because you just want to keep going," Figueroa said. "I always looked forward to the opportunity of coming to the U.S. and play college ball. Today was the end of that chapter."

Figueroa, a native of Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico, came to UTEP from Iowa Western Community College in 2010 as a junior and took the defensive line by storm when she totaled 476 digs to rank third in UTEP's record books for digs in a season. In 2011, she moved up to second thanks to a 555-dig season.

"There is always room to improve and I took advantage of that everyday," Figueroa said. "When you think back to yourself in freshman year, you realize how much you have changed as a volleyball player and as a person."

Off the court, Figueroa maintained a 4.0 GPA, majoring in psychology and translations, which helped her become the third Miner in program history to be named to the C-USA All-Academic team.

"I thought she was a really steady influence on our team," head coach Ken Murphy said. "When she is on the court, she keeps our team focused and at a high level no matter who we are facing."

Joyce gained her own recognition during her six years with the Miners. During the 2007 season, Joyce was redshirted and became one of the C-USA Commissioner's Academic medalists and was a Commissioner's Honor Roll recipient. She repeated this in 2009 after posting 10 service aces and 12 digs for the season. Joyce helped Bring It Promotions/USA Development Team in 2009 to win the Global Challenge gold medal in Pula, Croatia.

"This season has been the most fun I have ever had," Joyce said. "I don't think I could have shared this experience with any other group of girls. It's been amazing and I think our record reflects our unity and how much we love playing."

Born in Tacoma, Wash., "M.T.," as her teammates call her, was scouted in 2006 by Murphy after being named to the Washington Coaches Association All-State team. Thanks to the networking of her coach during her high school career, Murphy was able to bring her to UTEP. She graduated with a bachelor in December 2010 with a degree in media advertising and continued her education to gain a masters in fine arts.

"I am so proud to be a Miner, and although I am sad, I know it had to come to an end eventually," Joyce said. "I always want to be involved with volleyball somehow and I'm looking to pursue a career in sports marketing or something like that because I love sports so much I'd like to expand on it in some way."

After Murphy brought Joyce on, he saw that she was more than just a good player, but that she found a way to represent her team in a positive light.

"She works hard and gets better with everything she is taught," Murphy said. "She helped the entire program elevate and worked to make everyone get better. She was a pretty good kid the first time I met her and she grew with every challenge she faced."

Both Joyce and Figueroa are at their college volleyball career ends, but they have stated that they will continue finding any way available to be able to continue in the sport.

"I'm going to coach a club team here in El Paso," Joyce said. "I want to be involved with volleyball no matter what because it has helped me grow in ways I can't even begin to describe."

Figueroa has already begun receiving calls from teams in Puerto Rico to join their programs, but declined in order to continue her education at UTEP.

"It was a really hard decision," Figueroa said. "I want to keep studying here at UTEP and they offered me a graduate's job that would pay for my masters. I could have gone home, but I didn't want to stop, so I decided to stay here for the next three years."

With the season drawing to a close, the girls look back at what they have done and offer present and future players some of their feelings.

"I am excited for everyone," Joyce said. "To the girls heading our way, I'm looking forward to seeing them play. To my team, just remember all the fun we had and that they need to go get 20; they'll know what that means."

Figueroa wishes the team the best and that she will never forget the friends and experiences she had as a Miner.

"My girls, I love you," Figueroa said. "I want them to keep fighting and never give up. I'm going to be here for them if they need me and it was an honor playing with them. To the girls who have the dream to be where we are, never let up. Mistakes are going to happen, but you don't always have to be perfect."

Krystal Oblinger may be reached at prospector@utep.edu