RIO GRANDE VALLEY – In the last 11 years with head coach Todd Lowery leading The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball program, the Vaqueros have enjoyed plenty of success.
 
The Vaqueros captured their fourth conference title in 2025, sharing the Southland Conference (SLC) regular season championship after going 15-1 in league play. They reached the championship match in the SLC tournament but fell short of their ultimate goal – earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
UTRGV has reached the NCAA Tournament only once, back in 2016. Ten years later, the Vaqueros are putting all their focus on returning to the big dance. Sure, another regular season title and a high conference tournament seed would be great. But the primary goal of the next three months isn't how many wins they can stack up – it's getting into the right mindset to play their best volleyball for three days in November to secure a championship and a second NCAA Tournament berth.
 
"We're just really trying to remind them that those three days are what really matters. It's more of a growth mindset instead of the day-to-day wins and losses. Don't let a good couple of wins affect our weekly practices. I think we went through a stretch of that last year, where we kind of got a little comfortable with the long winning streak in conference," Lowery said. "In a single-elimination tournament, everyone has to win three matches, whether you're the No. 8 seed or the No. 1 seed."
 
The first 11 matches across the opening four weeks of the season will bring some solid challenges, including matches against power conference opponents including West Virgina, Texas Tech and Texas State. Lowery is excited to give his newcomers a chance to show what they've got and to mix up lineups as the Vaqueros aim to build chemistry.
 
With five of the top contributors from the 2025 season returning, including four All-Conference honorees in SLC Newcomer of the Year Martina Franco, Julianna Bryant, Celianiz Cabranes and Nadine Zech, Lowery said the team moved faster during two-a-day training than it did last year. UTRGV honed in on technical training with some while emphasizing schemes and connections to get everyone on the same page. The Vaqueros did a lot of 6-on-6 work and replicated match situations to allow connections to develop.
 
"We've seen a lot of positives early on. We'll play a lot of people over the next couple of weeks and really try to figure out connections and where the pieces fit together and get some younger players some experience," Lowery said.
 
UTRGV has a lot of depth defensively and in the middle, leading to increased competition in the gym. Cabranes is a two-time All-Conference honoree at libero, and she's pushing two talented youngsters in freshman Dunja Stankovic and sophomore Brownsville St. Joseph alum Carmina Tijerina to another level. Bryant, Aaliyah Snead and Jasmyn Walker give the Vaqueros options in the middle blocker spot they haven't quite had in recent seasons, which opens up the net and will give the setter more options to score. Lowery said UC Santa Barbara transfer Ema Petkovic, who will hold down the right side for UTRGV, has been particularly impressive and will have a big impact on the season.
 
The position battle being watched most closely comes down to the setter spot, where either senior UNLV transfer Agata Makowska or freshman Lana Rnjak will run the versatile offense.
 
"We have two setters who are both fully capable of running the 5-1, and that gives us the option to play in a 6-2 that we haven't really had the last couple of years. Both setters are very close, so they're really pushing each other. Good competition there. You don't win championships without having a good setting performance, so we're looking for one of those two to really step up," Lowery said.
 
Some of UTRGV's hitters will be on pitch-counts of sorts in the opening weeks as Lowery and his staff aim to maintain health among the pins ahead of SLC action. And once they figure out lineups, pacing, and connections, the Vaqueros will attack the season and aim to build week by week leading up to the conference tournament, scheduled for Nov. 20-22 in Corpus Christi.
 
A trio of fourth-year veterans in Bryant, Isa Bento and Jasmine Allen are setting the tone in the locker room as team captains. The Vaqueros have been very close to the peak several times over the last 11 years. This season, they want to take that final step and get back to the NCAA Tournament. The talent is there, and more importantly, so is the hunger. The Vaqueros truly believe the only thing that can stop them in 2026 is themselves.
 
"I think the difference between us winning and not winning a championship this year will be less about the physical play and more about, do we have the championship mentality? How do we stay in the moment and not let the moment be bigger than us?" Lowery said.

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