RIO GRANDE VALLEY – It has been three long months since The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team has taken the court for a match. 
 
After having their season-opener with Weatherford College postponed last week, the Vaqueros are ready to get things started against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Orville I. Cox Tennis Center in the South Texas Showdown presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union.  
 
"I think (the student-athletes) are even more excited than I am, and I'm pretty excited. I'm happy for them. We already had a match canceled, so we want to get out there," UTRGV women's tennis coach West Nott said. "There are some new players on the team so I'm excited to get them in the mix, and also our existing players have been doing so well the last few years, so I think they're just chomping at the bit to get out there." 
 
Freshmen Marjorie Souza and Barbara Martinez and sophomore Stefanie Wilske are the newcomers Nott is eager to see compete. He called the four seniors – Ana Platisa, Sandra Putz, Katarina Sasaroga and Alicia Thal – natural leaders and credited them with getting the whole team on the same page and ready to go. 
 
Opening the season against a rival in TAMUCC has UTRGV fired up. The Vaqueros and Islanders know each other well, and Nott expects competitive matches on Wednesday. 
 
"It's going to be a gritty match. It's going to be a battle," Nott said. "Those guys are a really talented team. We know their faces, we know what we're up against, and our goal is just to go out there and see if we can take them down." 
 
UTRGV last faced TAMUCC on Feb. 23, 2021 and lost 0-7. The Vaqueros are 3-34 all-time against the Islanders and picked up their last win in the rivalry in 2018. 
 
This will be the first of four scheduled matches the Vaqueros will play this week. 

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