EL PASO, Texas – UTEP volleyball (11-5, 3-1 MW) continues Mountain West Conference play on the road this week as the Miners travel to Reno, Nevada, to face Nevada Oct. 8 and 10 at Virginia Street Gym.
Thursday's match is set for 7 p.m. MT, while Saturday's finale will begin at 1 p.m. MT. Both matches will be streamed live on MW+.
SCHEDULE
WEEK SIX RECAP: UNLV
UTEP opened its Mountain West home slate with a three-set setback to UNLV on Oct. 1, falling 25-22, 25-20, 27-25. The Miners battled throughout the opening and third sets, including holding an 18-15 advantage in the third and a 25-24 set point before the Rebels closed out the match.
Mackenzi Davis led UTEP with 10 kills, while
Luvina Oguntimehin added nine. UTEP hit .129 as a team compared to UNLV's .257 mark.
The Miners responded in dominant fashion Saturday, sweeping UNLV 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-23) to split the weekend series and improve to 11-5 overall and 3-1 in Mountain West play. Oguntimehin led all players with 12 kills while hitting .450 and recording 14.5 points.
Kalia Kohler posted a double-double with 23 assists and a match-high 18 digs, while
Hannah Crowe added a match-best five blocks. UTEP controlled the stat sheet with advantages in kills (44-33), assists (41-30), aces (5-0) and blocks (9.0-8.0), while hitting .248 and holding UNLV to .120.
WEEKLY WINNERS
SEPT. 28 | UTEP middle blocker
Luvina Oguntimehin was named the Mountain West's Old Trapper Women's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week following a dominant three-match stretch against Arizona and Wyoming. The honor marked the first conference weekly award of Oguntimehin's career and made her the second Miner to earn a Mountain West weekly honor this season. Oguntimehin started all three matches and played all 11 sets during the week, totaling 19 blocks, including five solo and 14 assisted, while averaging 1.73 blocks per set. She recorded 14 blocks across the two-match series at Wyoming, averaging 2.00 blocks per set. The Conroe, Texas, native also delivered offensively, totaling 34 kills while hitting .347 and recording a team-high 46.0 points. Against Wyoming, Oguntimehin tallied 22 kills and hit .385 while producing 31.5 points across the two matches.
SEPT. 7 | UTEP freshman
Mackenzi Davis was named the Mountain West's Old Trapper Women's Volleyball Freshman of the Week following her performance at the Southwest Showdown. Davis becomes the first Miner to earn a conference freshman weekly honor since the 2023 season and just the seventh player in program history to receive a freshman weekly award. The freshman totaled 27 kills, 11 blocks—including eight solo blocks—and 36.5 points across UTEP's three matches. She averaged 1.93 kills per set while hitting .300 for the weekend. Davis saved her best performance for UTEP's five-set victory over UTRGV, recording a career-high 16 kills while hitting .500.
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
Through 16 matches, Oguntimehin leads the Miners with 151 kills, followed closely by Davis with 149. UTEP has totaled 801 kills on the season and is hitting .241 as a team. Oguntimehin leads the squad with a .338 attacking percentage. The Miners have hit above .300 as a team three times this season, including a .359 mark at Wyoming, .341 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and .336 against UC San Diego.
THREE-HEADED ATTACK
Three Miners are averaging at least 2.00 kills per set this season. Oguntimehin leads the trio at 2.52, followed by Davis at 2.40 and
Ema Uskokovic at 2.10. As a team, UTEP is averaging 12.92 kills per set.
SETTING THE TABLE
Working primarily in a 6-2 system, senior Kohler leads the Miners with 361 assists while averaging 5.82 per set. Bruntmyer has added 151 assists at a 3.51-per-set clip, while freshman
Caryme Molina has 115 assists and is averaging 2.25 per set. UTEP's season high is 59 assists against Arizona.
SERVING UP PRESSURE
Perry has accounted for 32 of UTEP's 90 service aces this season, leading the Miners in the category. UTEP's season high is 11 aces against Pacific.
DIGGING DEEP
Kohler leads UTEP with 155 digs, followed closely by
Lily-Rose Pichon with 154. Uskokovic has added 141 digs, while Perry has contributed 114.
The Miners' season high is 76 digs against Texas State.
BLOCK PARTY
UTEP has been one of the Mountain West's top defensive teams at the net, led by Oguntimehin and Crowe. Oguntimehin leads the Miners with 67.0 total blocks, while Crowe has recorded 66.0. Both are averaging 1.12 blocks per set. Oguntimehin has a team-high 12 solo blocks, while Davis has 11. Crowe leads the Miners with 54 assisted blocks. UTEP's season high is 15.0 team blocks at Wyoming on Sept. 26.
POINT TAKEN
Oguntimehin leads the Miners with 193.5 points, averaging 3.23 per set. Davis follows with 177.5 points and a 2.86-per-set average.
THE FULL STAT SHEET
UTEP holds the statistical edge over its opponents in kills (801-736), assists (729-686), service aces (90-62) and blocks (162.0-113.5). Opponents have recorded more digs, 848-817. The Miners are hitting .241 as a team while limiting opponents to a .189 attacking percentage.
TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
UTEP currently leads the Mountain West in four team statistical categories: total blocks (162.0), blocks per set (2.61), assists (729) and service aces (90).
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Miners rank inside the NCAA's top 100 in eight team categories:
- 11th in total blocks (162.0)
- 32nd in blocks per set (2.61)
- 47th in kills (801)
- 56th in assists (729)
- 71st in match winning percentage (.688)
- 76th in hitting percentage (.241)
- 90th in opponent hitting percentage (.189)
- 92nd in total attacks (2,086)
INDIVIDUAL IMPACT
Perry leads the Mountain West in service aces (32) and service aces per set (0.52), ranking 18th and 36th nationally, respectively. Oguntimehin leads the Mountain West in total blocks (67.0), ranking 60th in the country. Crowe ranks second in the conference in total blocks (66), good for 69th nationally, and blocks per set (1.12).
THE MINERS AT A GLANCE
| Overall: 11-5 |
Home: 4-2
Away: 4-2
Neutral: 3-1 |
Three Sets: 4-2
Four Sets: 4-2
Five Sets: 3-1 |
PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS
UTEP enters its first season as a member of the Mountain West with high expectations after being selected to finish first in the league's 2026 preseason poll.
The Miners received four first-place votes and 84 points in the preseason balloting.
Graduate student outside hitter
Ema Uskokovic was also named to the 2026 Mountain West Preseason Team. Uskokovic returns for her final season after missing the 2025 campaign due to injury. The two-time preseason team selection was an All-Conference USA First Team honoree and AVCA All-Region selection in 2024.
IN THE MINE SHAFT
- The 2026 season marks the 53rd season of UTEP volleyball.
- The Miners' roster features six freshmen, four sophomores, five juniors, two seniors and one sixth-year player.
- Kalia Kohler, Ema Uskokovic, and Hannah Crowe serve as team captains for the 2026 season.
- On Sept. 1, UTEP announced a contract extension for head coach Ben Wallis, while Courtney Johnson was promoted to associate head coach.
- Wallis reached 150 career victories on Sept. 25 after leading the Miners to a 3-0 sweep at Wyoming in UTEP's Mountain West opener.
SCOUTING NEVADA
Nevada enters the weekend 3-11 overall and 1-3 in Mountain West play, sitting sixth in the league standings as of Oct. 5. The Wolf Pack have dropped their last three matches. Nevada has been especially effective from the service line, tying UTEP for the Mountain West lead with 90 service aces. The Wolf Pack rank second in the conference in service aces per set at 1.53. Nevada has recorded 681 kills this season and is hitting .189 as a team. Paige Thies leads the Wolf Pack and the Mountain West in points (239.0), total attacks (619) and kills (210). Her 619 total attacks rank 34th nationally, while her totals in points and kills rank 80th in the country in both categories.
SERIES HISTORY
- Nevada leads the all-time series, 7-4, including a 24-14 advantage in sets.
- The teams last met in 2014, when UTEP earned a 3-0 victory over Nevada on a neutral court at the Denver Invitational.
- The Miners are 3-2 against the Wolf Pack in Reno and 1-5 against Nevada in conference play.
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