Horton boosting team’s expectations

   Junior outside hitter Jeane Horton has been displaying a dominant effort on the volleyball court.

She  currently ranks 21st in the nation and second in Conference USA in kills per set.

Horton was a key piece in the 3-1 victory against Southern Miss on Sept. 23 at Memorial Gym.

“She was pretty much unstoppable in that match,” UTEP coach Ken Murphy said. “Every now and then they would try to make a little adjustment and she would see it really fast and she would immediately adjust and be effective.”

Horton, along side teammate, junior Malia Patterson, were named C-USA athletes of the week after their win against Southern Miss.

Horton said her teammates motivate her and help her in practice to prepare for every game, using that as a competitive drive.

“I don’t think I’ll go against any harder ballplayer than Jacqueline Cason,” Horton said. “Me and her go at it every day, she blocks me all the time, so if I can get over Jacqueline, I can get over anybody in the conference.”

Horton said that she and her teammates were shooting for a 20-game winning season. Now, they have a whole different agenda and a much bigger goal.

“I see it happening, but we’re still taking it one game at a time and we’re just going to take each game and hopefully we can get that mark,” Horton said. “But our main goal is to go to the conference tournament and win it all.”

Horton has made an impression on her teammates and they are very much in agreement as to the quality of player and level that she is at. Senior outside hitter Bridget Logan  complimented Horton.

“She is a player that has really grown in the past three years that she’s been here, and she’s become quite a good offensive weapon,” Logan said.

Horton also said that the community support and fan base in El Paso is what motivates her and her teammates to work hard and take it to the next level. The Miners will play seven of their remaining 13 regular-season games at home before the C-USA tournament on Nov. 16 in Tulsa, Okla.

“We get really good support here in El Paso,” Murphy said. “I think there’s a lot of good volleyball fans and I think they pay attention. As our program has improved, we have been able to win some more matches and I think they’ve noticed and they come out a little bit stronger.”

Herman Delgado may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.