RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) women's tennis program enters the year with high hopes and a familiar goal, to win the Southland Conference tournament and qualify for the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament.
 
"We want to maximize our potential, and we're always going to aim to win the Southland Conference," head women's tennis coach West Nott said. "We want to make the NCAA tournament. Truly, in order to do that, we got to win the conference."
 
The Vaqueros enter year two in a competitive Southland Conference and are coming off a fifth-place finish in Spring 2025. However, with eight returning from last season, Nott believes that this team has the talent to compete with the top of the Southland Conference.
 
"There's a lot of great teams standing in our way," Nott said. "A lot of great coaches and players, so we've got our work cut out, but I don't think we have any self-imposed limitations to just give it a shot."
 
Alongside the eight key returners, the program also added senior Barbara Martinez for the 2025-26 season. Martinez is coming off a successful fall where she defeated individuals from Illinois and Baylor, in the last tournament of the season.
 
"Barbara came in after taking a few springs off and really shined for us," Nott said. "She was great during the fall earning wins against good competition from teams like Baylor and Illinois. She will be a good addition for our team this year."
 
The Vaqueros expect Martinez to play near the top of the lineup and compete with the likes of junior Rhea Makesar and senior Yaiza Vazquez in a jockey for the number one spot.
 
Vazquez represented the Vaqueros in singles at the Southland Conference Fall Championships, advancing to the semifinals. Meanwhile, Makesar is coming off a spring in which she went 2-3 at the No. 1 line and 2-2 at the No. 2 line, providing consistent play at the top of the lineup.
 
However, UTRGV really made its mark with the play at the bottom of the lineup. Juniors Madeleine Joffe and Hitakamya Narwal both finished Spring 2025 with a winning record in the four and five spots in singles, respectively.
 
"I always tell the underclassmen, you are the overachievers," Nott said. "So, if we get everyone else to overachieve and the upperclassmen are just rock solid, then we are going to have a great year."
 
For seniors like Martinez, Valentina Urraco, and Vazquez, this is their final opportunity to chase a championship at UTRGV, one that would help continue the growth of this program for years to come.
 
"For me, it's my last year," Vazquez said. "I would like to have fun, play against those big schools, go for the conference championship, and help the team keep growing.
 
This season, Nott decided to challenge the team a little more during the non-conference slate this spring. The Vaqueros already have four matchups scheduled against teams in the top 25 and will end up facing six power conference opponents.
 
"This is one of the toughest schedules we've had since I started at UTRGV," Nott said. "We're excited to compete as hard as we can and make it as tough on our opponents as possible, so that when we play opponents at our level, we can go and get some good wins."
 
The Vaqueros open the season with a massive test in Lubbock this weekend as they battle No. 20 Texas Tech on Sunday and former conference foe Abilene Christian on Monday.

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