September 28, 2026
The Mountain West era is officially underway for UTEP Athletics, and the Miners are already making their presence felt across the conference.
While football experienced a difficult Homecoming weekend, UTEP volleyball opened conference play with a perfect 2 and 0 road trip, women’s soccer secured its first Mountain West victory, and both cross country programs continued their strong starts.
Here is the latest from around UTEP Athletics as we enter the final week of September.
Football: UTEP Falls to Oregon State
UTEP football dropped its 94th Homecoming Game on Saturday night, falling 33 to 7 to Oregon State at the Sun Bowl.
The Beavers scored 17 points in the opening quarter and controlled the game from there, finishing with 451 total yards.
Oregon State quarterback Braden Atkinson completed 24 of 34 passes for 301 yards and three touchdowns.
The loss moved UTEP to 1 and 3 heading into its first Mountain West game of the season.
The Miners now have a short turnaround before beginning conference play.
UTEP travels to Albuquerque on Saturday, October 3, to face New Mexico in the 81st meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Mountain Time, with the game streaming on MW+.
The Mountain West schedule has arrived.
Volleyball: 2 and 0 to Start Mountain West Play
While football had a difficult weekend, UTEP volleyball gave Miner Nation plenty to celebrate.
The Miners opened Mountain West play with a road sweep at Wyoming.
UTEP defeated the Cowgirls 3 to 0 on Friday before returning Saturday and winning 3 to 1 to complete the series sweep.
The Miners are now 11 and 4 overall and 2 and 0 in Mountain West play.
Saturday’s victory was particularly impressive.
UTEP hit .283 as a team and held Wyoming to a .100 hitting percentage. The Miners also dominated the blocking battle 15 to 7.
Ema Uskokovic led UTEP with 14 kills, while Lauren Perry added 10. Luvina Oguntimehin recorded a career high nine blocks.
Kalia Kohler finished with 26 assists and 12 digs, giving her a double double.
The Miners now return to El Paso for their first Mountain West home series.
UTEP will host UNLV on October 1 and October 3 at Club Memorial.
Women’s Soccer: First Mountain West Win
UTEP women’s soccer bounced back in a big way Sunday.
After suffering its first loss of the season at UNLV in the Mountain West opener, the Miners returned home and defeated San Jose State 1 to 0.
Valeria Agudelo scored the game’s only goal in the 30th minute.
The UTEP defense then held the Spartans scoreless for the remainder of the match to secure the shutout.
The victory gave UTEP its first Mountain West win and moved the Miners to 7 and 1 and 3 overall, including a 1 and 1 conference record.
The Miners will have another home opportunity Friday when Air Force comes to University Field.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain Time on October 2.
Cross Country: Miners Continue to Build Momentum
UTEP cross country is coming off a strong home performance at the 40th Lori Fitzgerald Invitational at Ascarate Park.
Both the men’s and women’s teams won their respective team titles.
Juan Leal won the men’s 8K with a personal best of 24:17.50.
Nathan Kapel finished second and Paul Rotich finished third, giving UTEP the top three individual finishers.
The UTEP women were led by El Paso native Salma Licon, who finished third overall in the 5K with a personal best of 18:31.08.
The women won the team title with 35 points, while the men dominated their field with 17 points.
In total, the Miners recorded 11 personal bests during the meet.
The men’s team will compete at the Chili Pepper Festival in Arkansas on October 3, while the women will prepare for the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station.
Women’s Golf: Freshman Making an Impact
UTEP women’s golf continued its fall schedule last week at the Red Raider Invitational in Lubbock.
The Miners finished ninth as a team, but freshman Camila Echavarri provided one of the biggest individual highlights.
Echavarri finished tied for 13th at 7 over par and recorded the best finish of her young collegiate career.
She also led UTEP with seven birdies.
Luciana Origel finished tied for 17th at 9 over par, while freshman Essi Ekholm recorded two eagles in the final round.
UTEP finished the tournament with a final round of 296, its best round of the event.
The Miners will return to action October 12 through October 14 at the Golf Iconic Classic in Las Cruces.
Men’s Golf: Miners Finish 12th in Albuquerque
UTEP men’s golf competed at the William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque over the weekend.
The Miners finished 12th among 15 teams at 23 under par.
Julien Dulait led UTEP, finishing tied for 26th at 2 under par.
Marc Keller made one of the biggest moves during the final round, shooting a 3 under 69 and climbing 21 spots on the leaderboard to finish tied for 35th.
UTEP now heads to Boulder for the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational on September 29 and 30.
Looking Ahead
The first full week of October brings several important events across UTEP Athletics.
Friday, October 2
Women’s Soccer vs. Air Force
7 p.m. MT
University Field
Saturday, October 3
Football at New Mexico
2 p.m. MT
MW+
Volleyball vs. UNLV
Club Memorial
Cross Country at Chili Pepper Festival
The weekend will mark the beginning of conference competition for football while volleyball and soccer continue their Mountain West schedules.
The Mountain West Era Has Arrived
UTEP entered the Mountain West with plenty of questions surrounding its athletic programs.
Just three months into the new conference era, there are already several storylines worth following.
Volleyball is 2 and 0 in conference play.
Women’s soccer has secured its first Mountain West victory.
Cross country has won home team championships.
Golf continues to develop young talent.
Football now gets its opportunity to begin writing its own Mountain West story.
The opening weekend did not go the way the Miners wanted, but the conference schedule is only beginning.
Next Saturday, UTEP football heads to Albuquerque.
The Mountain West era is officially underway.
And Miner Nation is just getting started.
