Volleyball’s Holly Watts Removed as Head Coach at UTEP
Following UTEP volleyball's 5-21 (2-12 C-USA) season, UTEP Director of Athletics Jim Senter announced on Monday that head coach Holly Watts is out as the coach of the program. A national search will begin immediately to hire her replacement.
“While the hard work and dedication is unquestioned, the results on the court did not meet expectations under Holly’s leadership,” Senter said. “We thank her for her service to UTEP and wish her well in the future.”
In her five seasons with the Miners, Watts finished her tenure with a record of 48-127 and 24-64 in C-USA action. Her best season came in her first year of coaching when the Miners finished 14-16 overall. Since then, the Miners have not won over 10 games in five seasons, with 2015 being her second-best at nine wins.
In the 2017 season, the Miners earned an impressive 3.52 GPA as a team. There were 12 members of the team on the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll, including two C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal winners, who achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.75 or better.
A native of Devine, Texas, Watts played for the Texas Longhorns from 1989-93. The Longhorns were consistently ranked in the nation’s top-20 over the course of her’ collegiate career, including No. 1 during her senior season, and won five conference titles. The team advanced to the NCAA Championship Regional Finals three times and was a regional semifinalist twice.
Before being hired with the Miners, Watts was an assistant coach for 17 years, with the most recent being at Florida State (2008-12).
Recently, Senter also announced the firing of women's soccer head coach Kevin Cross.