The NCAA sprung a surprise on the UTEP volleyball team, but not in a bad way.

Against every bracket projection in the weeks leading into Selection Sunday, UTEP is heading to Madison, Wisc. as a No. 6 seed to take on North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament. That match will be 3:30 p.m. MT/4:30 p.m. CT Thursday in at the University of Wisconsin.

The ACC’s North Carolina was one of the last four teams in the 64-team tournament (33 at-large bids) after going 21-8. Wisconsin, the No. 3 seed, is hosting UTEP's regional and the UTEP/North Carolina winner will play the Wisconsin-Eastern Illinois

UTEP went 25-4 and shared the Conference USA title with Western Kentucky, who was a No. 7 seed.

The Miners’ No. 6 seed was higher than most projections, which generally had UTEP as a N

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