EL PASO, Texas – UTEP volleyball (8-4) opens Mountain West play this weekend, traveling to Laramie, Wyoming, for a two-match series against Wyoming on Sept. 25-26. Friday's match is set for 6:30 p.m. MT, with Saturday's contest scheduled for 6 p.m. MT. Both matches will be streamed live on MW+.
SCHEDULE
WEEK FIVE RECAP: ARIZONA
UTEP concluded its non-conference schedule Tuesday evening at Club Memorial, battling Arizona in a hard-fought four-set match before falling, 3-1 (20-25, 25-27, 25-19, 24-26). The Miners enter conference play with an 8-4 overall record, while Arizona improved to 5-6. The Wildcats claimed the opening two sets, 25-20 and 27-25, despite late pushes from the Miners. UTEP responded with its strongest set of the night in the third, building an early advantage and cruising to a 25-19 victory. The fourth set featured multiple ties and momentum swings down the stretch, but Arizona edged the Miners, 26-24, to close out UTEP's non-conference slate.
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 12 matches, redshirt freshman
Mackenzi Davis leads the Miners with 117 kills, followed closely by
Luvina Oguntimehin with 110.
As a team, UTEP has recorded 616 kills on the season, including a season-high 65 against Arizona.
The Miners are hitting .240 as a team, with Oguntimehin leading the squad with a .327 hitting percentage.
UTEP has hit above .300 as a team twice this season, posting a .341 mark against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a .336 clip against UC San Diego.
THREE-HEADED ATTACK
Among Miners who have played at least 45 sets, three players are averaging at least 2.0 kills per set. Davis leads the trio at 2.39 kills per set, followed by Oguntimehin at 2.34 and
Ema Uskokovic at 2.02.
SETTING THE TABLE
Operating in a 6-2 system, senior
Kalia Kohler leads the UTEP offense with 278 assists, averaging 5.67 per set. Freshman
Caryme Molina follows with 115 assists and a 2.67 assists-per-set average.
The Miners posted a season-high 59 assists in Tuesday's match against Arizona.
SERVING UP PRESSURE
Lauren Perry has accounted for 26 of UTEP's 74 service aces this season, leading the Miners from the service line.
UTEP's season high is 11 service aces, recorded against Pacific during the Borderland Classic.
DIGGING DEEP
Three Miners have recorded at least 100 digs this season.
Lily-Rose Pichon leads the team with 134 digs, followed by Uskokovic with 115 and Kohler with 109.
UTEP recorded a season-best 76 digs against Texas State in the Southwest Showdown.
BLOCK PARTY
Hannah Crowe leads UTEP at the net with 50.0 total blocks, averaging 1.06 blocks per set. Davis has recorded a team-high 10 solo blocks, while Crowe leads the squad with 44 assisted blocks.
The Miners recorded a season-high 14.0 total blocks against UIW.
POINT TAKEN
Davis leads the Miners with 139.5 points on the season, averaging 2.85 points per set. Oguntimehin follows with 138.5 points while averaging 2.95 points per set.
THE FULL STAT SHEET
Through 12 matches, UTEP holds the statistical advantage over its opponents in kills (616-613), assists (561-550), service aces (74-51), total blocks (122.0-87.5) and points (812.0-751.5).
Opponents have the edge in digs, 655-639.
The Miners are hitting .240 as a team while holding opponents to a .199 hitting percentage.
CONFERENCE RANKINGS
UTEP currently leads the Mountain West in nine team statistical categories:
- Blocks per set (2.49)
- Team assists (561)
- Team digs (640)
- Team kills (617)
- Team service aces (74)
- Team total attacks (1,604)
- Team total blocks (122.0)
- Service aces per set (1.51)
- Kills per set (12.59)
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Among 343 NCAA Division I teams, UTEP ranks inside the top 100 nationally in nine statistical categories:
- 11th in team total blocks
- 34th in team kills
- 43rd in team assists
- 51st in blocks per set
- 79th in team service aces
- 79th in team total attacks
- 89th in hitting percentage
- 89th in match winning percentage
- 96th in team digs
INDIVIDUAL IMPACT
Perry leads the Mountain West in two statistical categories while ranking inside the NCAA's top 40. She ranks 15th nationally in service aces with 26 and 38th in service aces per set at 0.53.
Crowe leads the Mountain West in total blocks with 50, ranking 60th nationally. She also ranks second in the conference in blocks per set at 1.06.
MINERS AT A GLANCE
| Overall: 8-4 |
Home: 3-1
Away: 2-2
Neutral: 3-1 |
Three Sets: 2-1
Four Sets: 3-2
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.
SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
Wyoming enters the weekend with a 7-4 overall record and a .220 team hitting percentage. Paige Lauterwasser leads the Cowgirls offensively with 112 kills while hitting .227. Rylee Heinz anchors the front row with 42 total blocks. Wyoming ranks second in the Mountain West in service aces per set (1.47), opponent hitting percentage (.197) and total service aces (63). Heinz ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage (.339) and fifth in total blocks (42) and blocks per set (.98). Rya Fingerling ranks fourth in the Mountain West with 151 digs.
SERIES HISTORY
- Wyoming leads the all-time series, 16-3, including a 52-20 advantage in sets.
- The teams last met in 1997, when the Cowgirls claimed both conference matches. Wyoming won the first meeting in straight sets before taking the second match, 3-2.
- UTEP has dropped seven straight matches against Wyoming.
- All 19 meetings between the Miners and Cowgirls have come as conference matchups, with UTEP going 0-6 when playing in Laramie.
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