The UTEP volleyball team announced its 2018 schedule on Tuesday. Seven home matches, including a three-match home tournament, will take place in Memorial Gym this fall while another 14 road contests will make up the 25-match slate.
Fans will get their first look at the UTEP squad on August 18, when it hosts Universidad Regional del Norte in an exhibition match at Memorial Gym.
The Miners will open the season with four tournaments in as many weeks, beginning with the Tulane Volleyball 1-10 Challenge in New Orleans, La. They will open up the tournament with two matches on Friday, August 24, first against UIW at 10 a.m. MT then a 6 p.m. MT meeting with host Tulane.
UTEP will close out its stay at Tulane with a 9 a.m. MT battle against Louisiana on Saturday, Aug. 25.
The following weekend, the Miners will travel to Omaha, Ne., to compete in the Omaha Challenge Auguust 31 and September 1. UTEP will take on Illinois-Chicago at 9 a.m. MT then UMKC at 4 p.m. MT. Both matches will be played on Friday, August 31. The Miners will face host Omaha at 12 p.m. MT on Saturday, September 1, to close out the tournament.
UTEP will return home to co-host the Borderland Invitational alongside NM State. The team will take on the Pac-12’s Arizona on Friday, September 7 at 5 p.m. MT at the Pan American Center, then return to Memorial Gym on Saturday for a meeting with Montana at 12 p.m. MT. The Orange and Blue will close out their short homestand with a battle against rival NM State on Sunday, September 9, at 1 p.m. MT in Memorial Gym.
A trip to San Diego, Calif., will round out the preseason tournaments when the Miners contest in the SDSU/USD Challenge Sept. 14 and 15. The Miners and Oregon State will face-off on Friday at 1 p.m. MT. The Miners will battle San Diego State on Saturday at 10 a.m. MT before heading back to the Sun City.
Conference USA action will begin on Friday, Sept. 21 when the Miners head to Houston to take on Rice at 5 p.m. MT at Tudor Fieldhouse. UTEP will return home to host Southern Miss on Sunday, September 23 at 12 p.m. MT. A week later, UTSA will roll into Memorial Gym to face the home team on Sunday, September 30, at noon.
League action will continue on the road when the Miners travel to UAB on Friday, October 5 to battle the Blazers at 5 p.m. MT. UTEP and Marshall will meet on Sunday, October 7 at 11 a.m. MT.
A weekend homestand will begin on Friday, October 12 when UTEP hosts Florida Atlantic at 6 p.m. MT in Memorial Gym. The Miners will face FIU on Sunday, October 14 at 12 p.m. MT in front of the El Paso crowd.
The Miners will head to Ruston, La., to challenge LA Tech on Friday, October 19 at 6 p.m. MT, and then prepare for their Sunday match against Middle Tennessee on Sunday, October 21 at 11 a.m. MT in Murfreesboro, Tn.
Closing out the month of October will be a three-match homestand, beginning with four-time defending league champion WKU on Friday, October 26 at 6 p.m. MT. The Miners will meet with Rice for the second time on Sunday, October 28 at noon, and then wrap up the stand with a Sunday meeting against Charlotte on November 4 at 12 p.m. MT.
The Miners will round out regular-season action on road, meeting with North Texas in Denton on Thursday, November 8 at 5 p.m. MT before taking on UTSA on Saturday, November 10 in San Antonio with a time to be determined.
The Conference USA Tournament, hosted by Marshall in Huntington, W.V., will be held November 16-18.
