Heading into the biggest September weekend in recent UTEP volleyball history, coach Ben Wallis said his team had a chance to join the conversation as a good program.
In an electric Memorial Gym, in front of 776 loud fans who before the match formed a 70-yard queue to get in the door and facing the arch-rival New Mexico State team that is their model for excellence, the Miners arrived.
Playing from behind for most of the two-hour, 45-minute match, UTEP pushed in front at the end for a 20-25, 32-30, 26-24, 25-22, 15-12 victory that moved its record to 6-0 for the first time since 2011.