STEPHENVILLE – A busy weekend is in store for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team featuring three road matches. 
 
UTRGV (3-2) will face the UT-Permian Basin Falcons (1-3) on Friday, the Montana State Bobcats (4-7) on Saturday and the Tarleton State Texans (4-2) on Sunday. All matches will be at 10 a.m. at the Potishman-Lard Tennis Courts in Stephenville.
 
"Each team will be a tough opponent. Evenly matched, well-coached teams who will test us from the first point," UTRGV head coach West Nott said. "We are excited to get a look at a new team from outside the state in Montana State and compete against some new faces." 
 
This will be the first time the Vaqueros compete against both the Bobcats and Falcons. They'll be chasing their first win against Tarleton, which they lost to 2-5 in April 2021. Nott wanted to face the Texans, a fellow member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), to see how his team measures up ahead of conference play. 
 
"We have a deep lineup and we want to get as much match play as possible for the entire lineup to prepare us for the conference regular season starting in mid-March," Nott said. "We are continuing to work on our consistency, our mental toughness, and focusing on the things we can control." 
 
UTRGV dropped a tough match 0-7 to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi its last time out. Nott doesn't want the group to dwell on that match, but instead focus on bouncing back strong this weekend. 
 
"We always talk about being resilient when we get knocked down. The only thing that matters is how we handle the adversity moving forward," Nott said. "The most important thing is to be even-keeled mentally to keep building our skills so we can keep improving at a high level. If everyone does their own personal best limiting mental mistakes as compared to the previous day, then they're helping the team improve." 
 
Senior Alicia Thal said the Vaqueros have leaned on their high energy and toughness to perform well under pressure. The team cultivates a supportive and positive environment that allows each student-athlete "to see amazing improvements," which bolsters the depth of the lineup. That depth will be on full display with this three-match set. 
 
"This weekend with three consecutive matches is very exciting for us because everyone will be involved," Thal said. "I am confident that we will keep up our good energy and leave it all out there. I want to fight for every single point and enjoy every second with the team. I am looking forward to seeing high intensity battles and hope to extend our winning record." 

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