LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The UTEP volleyball team has been picked to finish first in the 2026 Mountain West preseason poll, while graduate student outside hitter
Ema Uskokovic was selected to the 2026 MW Preseason Team, the league office announced Wednesday.
The Miners received four first-place votes and 84 points to lead the 10-team predicted order of finish while UC Davis also received four first-place votes and 80 points to place second.
Uskokovic was one of seven players named to the MW Preseason Team and becomes the fifth Miner in program history to earn preseason recognition in consecutive seasons, joining
Kaya Weaver (2024, 2025),
Danika Washington (2024, 2025), Alianza Darley (2022, 2023) and Serena Patterson (2021, 2022).
A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Uskokovic enters her sixth year at UTEP after sitting out the 2025 season due to a preseason injury. In 2024, she started all 33 matches and led the Miners in kills (354), kills per set (3.05), service aces (48), points (457.0) and points per set (3.94), while hitting .281 and adding 205 digs and 98 blocks. She earned All-CUSA First Team, AVCA All-Southwest Region Honorable Mention and CSC Academic All-District® honors while helping UTEP post a 27-6 record and make the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance. She also earned CUSA Offensive Player of the Week honors and three all-tournament team selections, including Southwest Showdown MVP, and was a recipient of the CUSA Jim Castañeda Postgraduate Scholarship.
The Miners enter the 2026 season following a historic 2025 campaign in which UTEP captured the program's first conference regular-season championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
2026 MW Preseason Team
Bella Nunez, So., S/OPP, Grand Canyon
Cha'lei Reid, So., OH, Hawaiʻi
Ximena Cordero Barr, Jr., L, UC Davis
Mia Starr, Sr., S, UC Davis
Jaida Harris, Jr., OH, UNLV
Ema Uskokovic, Gr., OH, UTEP
Paige Lauterwasser, Sr., OH, Wyoming
2026 MW Preseason Player of the Year
Jaida Harris, Jr., OH, UNLV
2026 Predicted Order of Finish
| Rank |
School (first-place votes) |
Total |
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. |
UTEP (4)
UC Davis (4)
Grand Canyon (2)
Wyoming
Hawai'i
UNLV
San Jose State
Air Force
Nevada
New Mexico |
84
80
70
69
67
53
40
36
26
25 |
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