EL PASO – UTEP Volleyball (2-1) will host the Borderland Invitational from September 5-7 at Memorial Gym, welcoming a strong lineup of competitors. The Miners will face off against reigning Southland Conference champions Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, Air Force Academy on Friday, and reigning Western Athletic Conference champions Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.

"We're really looking forward to seeing how many of our Memorial Maniacs come out to support us this week," head coach Ben Wallis said. "Thursday night's home opener against an NCAA tournament team and conference champion is something cool to come watch. I really want to see our student body get behind this team, and I know the city and our Memorial Maniacs will show up at Club Memorial." 

  TICKETS  
Season ($85) and single-game tickets ($10) can be purchased through the Eisenberg Family Ticket Office by calling (915) 747-UTEP, emailing tickets@utep.edu, visiting www.UTEPMiners.com/Tickets or in person at 201 Glory Road (Brumbelow Building, UTEP campus) Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Group tickets are also available for $5 (minimum of 10 tickets).     

  PARKING  
Parking may be impacted during the Borderland Invitational due to other events on campus.

• On Thursday, September 5, there will be a high school football game at Sun Bowl Stadium, and on Friday, September 6, Minerpalooza will take place. For both days, parking is free with no specific guidelines, except for restricted areas: no parking is allowed in Miner Village, OR2, or any blocked off spaces in RA2 (due to the staff/faculty appreciation tailgate setup).
• Saturday, September 7: Due to UTEP Football's home opener, fans attending volleyball matches will be charged football parking prices. Discounted parking passes are available at the ticket office until 8 a.m. on Sept. 7.
• Parking Map & Prices: Click here for the 9/7 parking map and prices.

  SCHEDULE  

^All Times Mountain Daylight 
Full Tournament Schedule here.

  HITTING WITH CONSISTENCY  
UTEP is hitting .283 paced by six Miners who are killing it at or above the mark. Danika Washington (.400) leads the team among players with at least 10 kills. The UTEP offense sits 39th in the nation in hitting percentage.      

  BLOCK PARTY  
The Miners registered 16 blocks in the 3-0 sweep against Utah State on Sept. 1. Kaya Weaver leads the team with 21 blocks and recently set program records with 10 block assists and 12 total blocks against Utah State. Nationally, UTEP is 5th in blocks per set (3.67) and 24th in total blocks (33.0) while leading CUSA. 

  BALANCED ATTACK  
UTEP showed a balanced attack at the Utah Classic, with three Miners blasting home at least 2.0 kills pet set. Torrance Lovesee and Ema Uskokovic (2.44 k/s) led the way with Kaya Weaver (2.33 k/s) getting after it as well. 

  IN THE CUSA SPOTLIGHT  

• Kaya Weaver was named Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 2) after she delivered an impressive performance, earning all-tournament team honors at the Utah Classic. She led UTEP to a 2-1 record sweeping both Green Bay and Utah State. Against Utah, she recorded 11 kills with a .529 hitting percentage. Against Green Bay, she added 5 kills and 6 blocks. Her standout performance came against Utah State, where she notched 5 kills, hit .364, served 3 aces, and set new program records with 10 block assists and 12 total blocks in a 3-set match. Overall, Weaver tallied 21 kills, hit .366, a team-high 21 blocks, and accumulated a team-high 36.0 points. 

  MINER RANKINGS  
Nationally, UTEP is ranked in the top 100 in six categories:  
5. Blocks per Set (3.67)* 
24. Team Total Blocks (33.0)* 
39. Hitting Percentage (0.283) 
51. Aces per Set (2.11) 
81. Match W-L Pctg (0.667) 
99. Team Service Aces (19)
*CUSA Leader 

UTEP has two players ranked in the Top 15 in NCAA while leading the conference 

  THE OPPONENTS  
Southeastern Louisiana 

• SELU enters the weekend at 0-3 after falling to No. 16 BYU, High Point and Fairfield at the dōTERRA Classic to open the 2024 season.
• The reigning, two-time Southland Conference Champion SELU volleyball team was picked to finish third in the Southland Conference in the 2024 season while Cicily Hidalgo was named to the Preseason All-Conference First Team. 
• After the opening weekend, the Lady Lions rank second in the SLC in team total attacks (433) and in total blocks (25.0). 
• Jeremy White, entering his sixth season as the 13th head coach of the Lady Lions, is rapidly becoming one of the most successful in the program's history. The five-time Coach of the Year enters the 2024 season with an 87-53 record as the leader of SELU's volleyball Pride, just five wins away from moving into second place on the career coaching wins list. 
• UTEP leads the all-time series against SELU, 2-0, with a sets record of 6-3. The teams have only met twice, first in 1996, when UTEP won a five-set battle, 3-2. Their last matchup was in 2023 at SELA's home tournament, where UTEP secured a 3-1 victory. 

Air Force 

• Air Force enters the weekend at 1-1. The Falcons picked up a win against Fordham to open the season but dropped a 3-set match to South Dakota at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic. 
• Air Force was tabbed 10th in the annual Mountain West Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
• After the opening weekend, the Falcons lead the MWC in digs per set (15.50) and are second in the league in team attacks per set (36.17). Mac Russ is third in the conference in hitting percentage (0.458) and fourth in blocks per set (1.33). 
• Macey Donathan is in her first season as the head coach of the Falcons' volleyball program. Donathan, who claimed AVCA All-America honors as a player at Arizona State and is the Sun Devils' all-time leader in career kills with 1882, was named Air Force's mentor in January 2024, after serving as an assistant coach at Arkansas, Arizona State, and Liberty. 
• UTEP leads the all-time series against Air Force, 3-1, with a sets record of 9-2. Despite only meeting four times, their first encounter was in 1982 at the Northern Colorado Classic, where the teams split the matches 1-1. The last meeting was in 1997, where UTEP swept Air Force twice. 

Stephen F. Austin 

• Stephen F Austin, who will host High Point prior to the Borderland Invitational, went 3-0 during their opening weekend at the Bearkat Invitational– sweeping Incarnate Word and Prairie View, before taking a four-set win over host Sam Houston Following the conclusion of the Invitational, three Ladyjacks were named to the All-Tournament Team in Camryn Hill, Jayden Flynn, (MVP) and Caroline Kahle. 
• SFA was voted to finish first in the Southland Preseason Poll while two Ladyjacks, junior middle blocker Izabella Ortiz and sophomore middle blocker Tanishua Joseph, earned spots on the All-SLC Preseason Second Team. 
• After their opening weekend, the Ladyjacks lead the SLC in assists per set (12.90), digs per set (17.20), hitting percentage (0.265), and kills per set (14.00).  
• During a three-year stint in the WAC, Head Coach Debbie Humphreys led SFA to one WAC Conference Championship and was named WAC Coach of the Year in 2023. Humphreys guides SFA back to the Southland where she led SFA to 12 Southland Conference Regular Season Championships and was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year on eight separate occasions and has led SFA to nine NCAA Tournament appearances over her 35-year coaching career with the Ladyjacks.  
• SFA leads the all-time series against UTEP, 6-4, with a sets record of 21-12. The last meeting was in 2020, where UTEP fell 1-3. UTEP's last victory in the series came in 2003, where they won 3-1. 

"SELA is a really good team that's used to winning, so we're going to have our hands full with them, and it'll be a challenge for us," Wallis said. "Then on Friday, we have Air Force, a solid Mountain West team that's competitive, athletic, and knows what they're doing, which will give us some different challenges. Facing SFA will be a real test—they've won more games than anyone in mid-major volleyball over the past four seasons, made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, and are WAC champions.

"We've filled our schedule with tough volleyball teams and strong, competitive programs that have either gone to the NCAA tournament or are winning their conferences, and that's a real test for our team," Wallis said.

 

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