LAKE CHARLES, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team will open Southland Conference (SLC) play on the road Wednesday at 6 p.m. against the McNeese Cowgirls at the Townsley Law Arena.

The Vaqueros (4-7) wrapped up the non-conference slate with a trip to Peoria, Illinois for the CEFCU Invitational. UTRGV went 1-2 against the strong field, closing out the tournament with a five-set win over New Mexico State. UTRGV is still looking for its first true road win of the season going into conference play.

After facing four first-time opponents this year, the Vaqueros will take on McNeese (4-7) who they have faced 11 times in their history. UTRGV has won the last three matches in the series including a 3-0 win in Lake Charles last year. Martina Franco led the way in that match with 15 kills on .560 hitting. As a team, the Vaqueros hit .471 in that match, the team's highest single-match hitting percentage of last season. UTRGV enters the year as the reigning SLC regular season champion after a 15-1 conference mark in 2025, a campaign that included a program-record 16-match winning streak and a runner-up finish at the SLC Tournament.

Franco comes into conference play after her best output this season with 20 kills in the win over New Mexico State. She is now just seven kills shy of Ema Petkovic who leads the team with 135 kills this season. Freshman setter Lana Rnjak continues to feed the hot hand and is averaging 8.56 assists/set after a career high 44 assists at Bradley. Up front, Julianna Bryant is averaging 1.02 blocks/set and continues to lead the team in hitting percentage at .271.

Like UTRGV, McNeese started its season with seven straight matches on the road. Now on a four-match winning streak, first-year head coach Tayler Gray is off to a strong start in her debut season. The Cowgirls grabbed a pair of wins at home in the Cowgirl Classic over Grambling and Oral Roberts. McNeese ranks fourth in the country in digs per set at 17.37 with Sophia Tocmo leading the way at 5.74 digs/set. Ava Henry is the leading attacker for the Cowgirls with 99 kills and a hitting percentage of .355.