COMMERCE, Texas. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team will take its perfect Southland Conference (SLC) record to Commerce, Texas on Saturday to play the East Texas A&M (ETAMU) Lions at The Field House at 1 p.m.

UTRGV (9-7, 5-0 SLC) is coming off a 3-0 win over the Northwestern State Demons on Thursday. The Vaqueros hit .330 as a team, led by sophomore Ema Petkovic with 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .387. Outside hitter Martina Franco posted her third straight double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. Redshirt junior Julianna Bryant chipped in 10 kills while hitting .600, her second straight match at .600 or better. Setter Lana Rnjak totaled 41 assists, her third straight match with more than 40. Libero Celianiz Cabranes had 11 digs and moved into sixth in program history with 1,123 career digs.

The Lions (8-10, 2-3 SLC) are on a two-match skid after falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-1 on Thursday. Ariana Brown led the Lions with a season-high 17 kills, followed by Samantha Mosley with 13. Gracie Campbell had 10 kills in the match and has hit 10 or more kills in five consecutive matches. Defensively, libero Jade Washington ranks 16^th in the country in digs per set at 4.78.

UTRGV leads the series over ETAMU 5-3 and has won the last five matches in the series. Three of the last four wins for the Vaqueros have come by way of sweep including last season's 3-0 win in Commerce on November 15. With that win, UTRGV claimed a share of the 2025 SLC Championship. The Vaqueros returned to Commerce a week later and reached the SLC Tournament championship match.

Saturday's match features two of the SLC's most efficient offenses and two of its best serving teams. East Texas A&M leads the conference in hitting percentage (.227) and aces per set (1.97), while UTRGV ranks third in hitting percentage (.207) and second in aces per set (1.89).

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