UTEP Announces Sad News For Women’s Tennis Program After 40 Years Of History

Following forty years of competition, the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) made it official and will end its women’s tennis program, pointing to budget reasons as the primary motive. 

UTEP Vice President and Director of Athletics Jim Senter announced the decision formally, closing out a 40-year book on the athletic history of the university.

The 2025 season marked the last campaign for the program as the Miners ended up with a 9-9 overall mark and a 1-5 record in Conference USA (C-USA) action. Their year ended in the first round of the conference tournament. 

During the last several years, the team has not been able to be that competitive at the conference level, achieving a top-10 C-USA finish only once since the 2008-09 season — seventh place in 2014-15.

Senter explained that the choice was not an easy one and was prompted by the athletic department’s desire to redirect resources in a fiscally responsible manner. 

“We recognize this will have a deep emotional impact on the student-athletes, coaches, alumni, and fans,” he said. “But in the fiscal climate today, we need to make choices that are consistent with our long-term vision for UTEP Athletics.”

The announcement has set off sadness and introspection among the collegiate tennis world. Long-time collegiate tennis phenom Katarina Adamovic — most famously remembered for her match-sealing moment on Oklahoma State during the 2016 NCAA semifinals — expressed disappointment about the news on social media, alongside countless others grieving another long-running tennis program being cut from the NCAA.

The elimination of UTEP’s women’s tennis program highlights a disturbing trend among college sports supporters: the growing vulnerability of Olympic non-revenue sports. As athletic programs across the country grapple with budget constraints, sports like tennis are usually the first to be eliminated, even though they have long-standing traditions and a significant influence on student-athletes’ lives.