UTEP volleyball head coach Holly Watts announced the addition of Kenidy Howard, niece of former UTEP football linebacker Thomas Howard, who signed her National Letter of Intent (NLI) on Wednesday for the 2018 season.

Howard will join the Miners as a middle blocker who amassed 117 total blocks, including 96 solo blocks and 236 kills at a .302 clip her senior year at Frisco Lonestar High School in Frisco, Texas.

The 5-foot-11 signee has also played club volleyball for six years and her total block numbers rank second in the 5-A Region II District 13 statistic leaders.

“Kenidy brings with her an extreme passion for volleyball and improvement and UTEP,” Watts said in a press release. “I’m so proud for her decision to be a Miner as she will add depth in our middle blocker position and challenge her teammates daily.”

Howard will be the second athlete in her family to play at UTEP, her uncle, Thomas Howard, was an All-WAC and an All-Conference USA Second Team selection for the Miners and made the Senior Bowl in 2006.

The linebacker also played four years for the Oakland Raiders (2006-10), where he was drafted in the second round, and the Cincinnati Bengals (2011-13) as well as with the Atlanta Falcons and is still considered one of the Miner greats.

“I chose to sign with UTEP because when I arrived on the campus I felt at home and I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” Howard said in a press release. “My uncle (Thomas Howard) played football at UTEP and I want to keep the tradition going.”