THIBODAUX, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team earned a first-round bye as the five-seed for the Southland Conference (SLC) Championships and will open its tournament run Wednesday at 10 a.m. against the #4 NJIT Highlanders at the Thibodaux Regional Sports Complex. 
 
The Vaqueros (9-7, 6-3 SLC) are 2-1 all-time against the Highlanders (12-5), who don't play a full conference schedule but go to the SLC tournament as tennis affiliates. UTRGV won the last meeting between these teams, 4-3, in March 2022. 
 
UTRGV heads to the tournament with good momentum. The Vaqueros went 4-1 in their last five conference matches, winning four in a row against New Orleans, Nicholls, Lamar and Incarnate Word. The No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Rhea Makesar and freshman Mariia Bakhtina earned All-Conference Second Team honors after going 6-3 in conference play with an unblemished 5-0 record on Court Two. 
 
The Vaqueros have seen solid play up and down the lineup. Four players head to the conference meet with five or more conference wins under their belts, led by senior Kristal Dule who is 9-6 this spring and 6-3 in SLC action with four wins in the No. 2 singles flight. Sophomore Hitakamya Narwal has also impressed down the stretch, going 5-2 in conference play with the clinch in a tight 4-3 win over UIW. 
 
The Highlanders lost their last match of the season to Stony Brook, snapping a four-match winning streak. NJIT didn't play any SLC teams in non-conference action but did have the duo of Irene Cocero and Laura Wipfli win the SLC Doubles Championship in the fall.

With a win Wednesday, the Vaqueros would advance to the semifinal match and face the winner of a match between #1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and either #8 UIW or #9 Lamar, depending on the result of a first-round contest played Tuesday. The women's championship match is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+. 

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