UTEP Athletics

UTEP Volleyball Set for High-Level Texas Showdown

9/15/2026 4:30:00 PM

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP volleyball (7-1) continues its Texas tour this week, facing a challenging three-match stretch that includes contests against a pair of nationally ranked opponents. The Miners will travel to Fort Worth on Wednesday, Sept. 16, to take on No. 13 TCU before heading to Waco for the Baylor Classic, where UTEP will face UIW on Thursday, Sept. 17, and No. 18 Baylor on Friday, Sept. 18.

Both matches against nationally ranked opponents will be streamed live on ESPN+.

SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	MATCHUP	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Wed. Sept. 16 Thur. Sept. 17 Fri. Sept. 18	5:30 PM 6 PM 6 PM	UTEP at #13 TCU UTEP vs UIW UTEP at #18 Baylor	ESPN+ --- ESPN+	StatBroadcast StatBroadcast StatBroadcast
Sept. 16 - Fort Worth, TX Sept. 17-18 - Waco, TX

WEEK THREE RECAP: BORDERLAND CLASSIC

UTEP enters the week riding a seven-match winning streak after completing an undefeated Borderland Classic. The Miners opened the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of I-10 rival NM State in Las Cruces, securing the season series against the Aggies, 2-0, and extending their winning streak against NM State to four matches.

UTEP then returned to Club Memorial, sweeping Pacific, 3-0 before closing the weekend with a 3-1 victory over UC San Diego. The Miners improved to 7-1 on the season and finished the tournament undefeated.

WEEKLY WINNER

SEP. 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 eight matches, UTEP has totaled 427 kills, with two Miners already surpassing the 70-kill mark. Luvina Oguntimehin leads the team with 77 kills, followed by Davis with 74. UTEP's season-high for kills came against Texas State, when the Miners recorded 62.
As a team, UTEP is hitting .257, with Oguntimehin leading the way individually at a .321 clip. The Miners posted their highest team hitting percentage of the season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, connecting at a .341 rate.

A BALANCED ATTACK

UTEP's offensive production has been spread across its lineup, with two Miners who have played at least 30 sets averaging more than two kills per set.
Oguntimehin leads the group with 2.41 kills per set, while Davis is averaging 2.18.

SETTING THE TABLE

Operating out of a 6-2 system, UTEP has received steady production from its setters, with Kalia Kohler leading the offense with 186 assists. Kohler is averaging 5.47 assists per set.
The Miners recorded a season-best 57 assists against Texas State.

SERVING UP PRESSURE

UTEP has recorded 54 service aces through eight matches, with Lauren Perry accounting for 19 of them.
The Miners' season-high came against Pacific, when they recorded 17 aces in the three-set sweep.

DIGGING DEEP

Lily-Rose Pichon leads the Miners with 85 digs, while Kohler follows with 82.
UTEP's season-high in digs came against Texas State, when the Miners recorded 76.

BLOCK PARTY

Hannah Crowe has anchored UTEP at the net, leading the squad with 37.0 total blocks while averaging 1.16 blocks per set.
The Miners have recorded 13.0 team blocks in three matches this season — at NM State on Sept. 10, against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and against UTRGV.

POINT TAKERS

Oguntimehin leads the Miners with 94.5 points through eight matches, averaging 2.95 points per set. Davis follows with 90.0 points and a 2.65 points-per-set average.

BY THE NUMBERS

UTEP has held the statistical advantage over its opponents in every category through eight matches, totaling 427 kills to its opponents' 413, 386 assists to 368, 54 service aces to 37, 435 digs to 434 and 86.0 blocks to 58.5.
The Miners are hitting .257 as a team while limiting opponents to a .184 hitting percentage.

THE MINERS AT A GLANCE

Overall: 7-1

Home: 3-0
Away: 2-0
Neutral: 2-1

Three Sets: 2-0
Four Sets: 2-0
Five Sets: 3-1

TOURNAMENT TERRITORY

UTEP has gone undefeated in 40 tournaments throughout program history.

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.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

No. 13 TCU

TCU enters Wednesday's matchup with a 6-2 record and a No. 13 ranking in the latest AVCA-Taraflex Division I Women's Volleyball Poll. The Horned Frogs are hitting .274 as a team and rank nationally 11th in assists per set (13.32), 11th in kills per set (14.46), 17th in blocks per set (2.71) and 29th in hitting percentage.
TCU's Becca Kelly ranks 16th nationally in both kills per set (4.36) and points per set (4.93), while Evan Hendrix ranks 31st in attacks per set (10.89) and 50th in kills per set (3.39).

UIW

UIW enters the Baylor Classic with a 2-5 record. The Cardinals are hitting .182 as a team and rank 10th nationally in attacks per set (37.74) while ranking 52nd in digs per set (15.19).
Ashton Rogers ranks 33rd nationally in digs per set (4.59), while Vanessa Eregie ranks 38th in hitting percentage (.406).

No. 18 Baylor

Baylor enters the week at 6-2 and ranked No. 18 nationally in the latest AVCA poll. The Bears are hitting .216 as a team and rank 47th nationally in blocks per set (2.52) and 95th in kills per set (13.00).
Ksenia Rakhmanchik leads the Bears offensively and ranks sixth nationally in kills per set (4.78), ninth in points per set (5.19), 10th in attacks per set (12.22) and 42nd in total kills (129). She also leads the Big 12 in each of those respective categories.

ALL-TIME SERIES

TCU: UTEP leads the all-time series, 5-4, with a 19-14 advantage in sets. The last meeting came in 2015, when the Horned Frogs earned a 3-0 victory. TCU has won the last two meetings.
UIW: UTEP leads the all-time series, 6-0, with a 16-5 advantage in sets. The teams last met twice in 2019, with the Miners winning both matches, 3-2. UTEP has won six straight in the series.
Baylor: UTEP leads the all-time series, 6-4, with a 20-18 advantage in sets. The last meeting came in 2012, when Baylor won 3-0. The Bears have won the last two meetings.

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