RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Southland Conference (SLC) announced weekly volleyball awards Monday, and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) freshman setter Lana Rnjak earned her fourth SLC Setter of the Week honor of the season, and junior middle blocker Julianna Bryant was named SLC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time this season.
 
UTRGV went 2-0 on the week with a 3-1 win over Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and a 3-0 sweep of Lamar. The Vaqueros lead the conference with an 8-0 record.
 
Rnjak totaled 69 assists in the two matches, an average of 9.86 per set. She had 40 assists against SFA on Oct. 15, the fifth time this season she has reached 40 in a match, to go with four kills, six digs and five blocks. She added 29 assists, seven digs and two kills in the sweep of Lamar on Oct. 17 and finished the week with three service aces. Rnjak leads the conference in assists per set at 11.19 in league matches.
 
Bryant tallied 15 blocks on the week, led by a career-high 10 against SFA. The 10 blocks, one solo and nine assisted, tied for the seventh-most in a match in program history and tied for the most by a player in a Southland match this season. She added five blocks against Lamar. Bryant leads the conference in blocks per set in league matches at 1.50. She also contributed on offense, hitting .321 with 13 kills against SFA and finishing the week with 19 kills.
 
UTRGV's next match will be a SLC contest at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Southeastern.
 
UTRGV Volleyball's 2026 SLC Weekly Awards 
Lana Rnjak, SLC Setter of the Week, Sept. 7
Lana Rnjak, SLC Setter of the Week, Sept. 28
Lana Rnjak, SLC Setter of the Week, Oct. 5
Julianna Bryant, SLC Defender of the Week, Oct. 19
Lana Rnjak, SLC Setter of the Week, Oct. 19

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