UTEP picked No. 1 in Mountain West as Ema Uskokovic returns from injury

The UTEP volleyball team’s reputation for excellence has preceded them into the Mountain West Conference, as the Miners were voted by league coaches No. 1 in the preseason poll. After missing last season to a knee injury, which happened as she was named to the 2025 Conference USA preseason all-confe

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What is the story about?

The UTEP volleyball team’s reputation for excellence has preceded them into the Mountain West Conference, as the Miners were voted by league coaches No. 1 in the preseason poll.

After missing last season to a knee injury, which happened as she was named to the 2025 Conference USA preseason all-conference team, Ema Uskokovic was one of seven players named to the preseason 2026 All-Mountain West team. She is one of five Miners to make a preseason all-conference team for two consecutive years; the other four (Kaya Weaver, Danika Washington, Alianza Darley and Serena Patterson) were all from this decade.

Ema Uskokovic (14) is a junior outside hitter for the UTEP volleyball team

The poll in the 10-team Mountain West features all three newcomers 1-2-3, as UTEP

(four first-place votes, 84 points) edged out UC Davis (four first-place votes, 80 points) and Grand Canyon (two, 70 points). The top two teams in last year’s Mountain West, Utah State and Colorado State, moved to the Pac-12, while third place Wyoming is tabbed fourth in the MWC in 2026.

UTEP is coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and tied for the CUSA regular-season championship (and earned a No 1 seed in the tournament) last season when they went 25-5. The No. 7-seed Miners lost in four sets to North Carolina in the first round after a rash of injuries.

The Miners did that without Uskokovic, who led the team in 2024 in kills, kills per set, service aces, points and points per set while hitting .281.

UTEP opens its 2026 season at home against Tulsa in the New Mexico State tournament on Aug 29, then hosts New Mexico State on Aug. 30 in Memorial Gym (that game is also part of New Mexico State’s tournament).