UTEP Volleyball holds final practices before NCAA Tournament appearance

EL PASO, TX (KVIA) -- UTEP Volleyball is holding their final two practices before heading off to Pittsburgh for the NCAA Volleyball Championship.

The Miners are making their first ever appearance in the tournament, coming off a 27-5 season. The Miners secured an at-large bid, setting a matchup with the 8th ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Friday at 2 PM.

After practice, ABC-7 spoke with Danika Washington, UTEP's senior middle blocker in the midst of another excellent season.

She said it's been an emotional time for her and the other seniors, trying to focus on the task at hand, but also on potentially their last game.

"At least for me, I'm thinking about how this could be potentially my last game. And I've had a lot of thoughts like that. And I don't want this to be my last game and I want to keep going. But this is so amazing. We're going to Pittsburgh. We get to even see the number one team in the country. Like there are a lot of emotions with it, but it is important to like stay level and just focus on our scout, focus on our tactics."

Kaya Weaver, a junior middle blocker for the Miners, said the team is motivated to win for their seniors. She mentioned Washington, as well as Alyssa Sianez, as players the team is going hard for.

"I mean, Alyssa's one of the best passers in the nation, if not the best passer. Danika's an insane middle like I don't know what I'll do without Danny next year... We're doing it for them."

Weaver said after they lost to New Mexico State in the C-USA tournament, the team had a meeting where Kalia Kohler said to out and play for somebody else, rather than yourself.

The team is using that motivation throughout this week and into their match versus Oklahoma. The Miners have one more practice tomorrow morning before heading to Pittsburgh.