Torsten Brunke of the German Air Force sets the ball during a volleyball match Tuesday at Milam Gym against the University of Texas at El Paso’s Reserve Officer Training Corps. Photo by Dustin Perry.
UTEP defeats German Air Force, advances to volleyball semifinals
Dustin Perry, Editor
Despite being mistakenly referred to as members of a high school-level Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps in an article three weeks ago, University of Texas at El Paso ROTC cadets gave it the old college try Tuesday night and advanced to the semifinals of the intramural volleyball championship.
The cadets ramped up their offensive front line and recovered from a frustrating earlier loss to defeat the German Air Force 15-11 in the third game of an intense match at Milam Gym. They will play a semifinal match Friday against the top-seeded 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and, if victorious, move on to the final round later that night.
The cadets ironed out the wrinkles in their not-yet-perfected new setup – which almost cost them a loss against the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy last week – to start off Tuesday’s match on the right foot with a first-game 25-17 win. Once again, key attackers Lorenzo Aponte, Jeremy Pahukoa-Malia and Matt Sebastian were able to send screaming spikes into holes in the Germans’ impeccable defense.
Team captain Sonya Vargo, the cadets’ long-time advocate of on-court communication, continually emphasized the concept during the match. It seemed to work, too, considering there were far less instances of UTEP’s opponents being able to successfully exploit the team’s oft-vulnerable outside corners with angled hits and misleading taps.
The Germans’ lone offensive weapon, attacker Mike Mueller, was only spottily effective – sometimes sending spikes hurtling perfectly downward, but other times slamming the ball out of bounds and practically into orbit. Where the Germans truly excelled was in their near-unrivaled blocking ability. Standouts like Torsten Brunke and Ortwen Karstens often created an impassible wall, knocking even some of the most powerful spikes back to UTEP’s side in an almost effortless manner. This advantage certainly helped them stay alive with a 25-23 win in the second game, and they could prove to be the team to beat next season if they are able to perfect that aspect of their defense.
Watching UTEP’s offense in the nail-biting third game was like seeing a newborn foal stumble a few times while walking and then winning the Kentucky Derby 10 minutes later. Aponte, who unquestionably brings a lot of power to UTEP’s squad, had not been fully using that power to his team’s advantage earlier in the match. However, Aponte’s visits to the net in the closing minutes were immaculate, with the ace attacker serving up no less than three helpings of “spike stew” to the Germans. After leading the split 8-3, the cadets hustled and pulled together for the win, ending it with a well-placed shot from Pahukoa-Malia.
“Eleventh Brigade is next – I can’t wait!” shouted Sebastian after the match.
“They’re going to try to play mind games with us – don’t fall for it,” echoed Aponte.
Charles Powell, another UTEP player, said the neck-and-neck nature of their match against the Germans made it very exciting.
“The second game, we had a couple of our backup players on the court so we could give everybody a chance to play,” said Powell. “In the third game, we settled on our best setup, but it was still a tough match.”
For their match against 11th ADA, Powell said his team has to constantly rethink how to most effectively set up their players.
“We understand 11th Brigade is considered the top team, but we know, having played them, that we have the ability to beat them,” he said. “We’re going to have to put forth our best game, because we know it’s going to take everything we have to beat them.”