ARLINGTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team is back on the road for a pair of matches this weekend, starting with a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) contest at UT Arlington (UTA) with regular season championship implications. 
 
The Vaqueros (10-6, 5-1 WAC) and the UTA Mavericks (13-3, 5-1 WAC) are tied atop the conference standings heading into Saturday's 1 p.m. match at the UTA Tennis Center. The winning team will take a significant step toward the regular season title and top seed for the conference tournament with two WAC matches remaining after this weekend. 
 
UTRGV and UTA have seen similar results through the first six conference matches. Both teams defeated Grand Canyon 4-3, New Mexico State 6-1, Utah Tech 7-0 and have wins against Abilene Christian. The Vaqueros beat Seattle U 4-3 while UTA lost to Seattle U 4-3, but the Mavericks topped Tarleton, which defeated UTRGV in the conference opener. In past matches, UTRGV is 2-10 against the Mavericks, but they last faced off in 2019. 
 
"We feel very fortunate about where we're at right now in conference, sitting at 5-1. This weekend is a huge opportunity playing UT Arlington," UTRGV head coach West Nott said. "They only have one loss, we only have one loss, and whoever comes out on top will be set up pretty good going into the last weekend of the regular season." 
 
The Vaqueros will play one final non-conference match against North Texas (UNT) Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Waranch Tennis Complex. UTRGV is winless in eight tries against UNT (9-9, 0-5 Conference USA), but it has been over 20 years since the programs faced off. 
 
UTRGV enters the weekend with momentum on its side, riding a five-match win streak. Two Vaqueros, sophomores Barbara Martinez and Marjorie Souza, are 5-1 in conference singles, with Souza winning five matches in a row. Senior Stefanie Wilske is 4-2 with four consecutive victories, while juniors Isabelle Bahr and Lea Karren have been moving around the top two spots in the lineup and have three wins each. 
 
Doubles success has been a key factor for UTRGV. The Vaqueros have won the doubles point in all five of their conference wins, with that 1-0 lead coming up big in tight matches. The Karren/Martinez duo leads the way with a 4-2 conference record while the Bahr/Souza and Wilske/sophomore Daniela Rosenberger combos have three wins each. UTRGV boasts a .636 winning percentage in doubles this spring season. 
 
With good energy and positivity fueling this talented lineup, the Vaqueros are going to give Saturday's match everything they have in hopes of taking a big step toward their first regular season conference championship since 2018. 
 
"We're preparing, getting mentally ready. We feel good about where we're at with our team," Nott said. "We feel confident about our doubles, so if we can steal the doubles point, we'll be in the driver's seat and we'll see what happens on Saturday. We'll give it our best shot and we have nothing to lose." 

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