Desiree Villanueva 
EDINBURG – The UTRGV Vaqueros volleyball team closed out its 2025 season with one of the strongest stretches in program history, riding a dominant home finale all the way to a championship match appearance, in which they fell short.
In just their second year competing in the Southland Conference, the Vaqueros clinched a share of the 2025 regular season title after sweeping East Texas A&M (3-0) on Saturday Nov. 15 at the Fieldhouse.
The win capped a 14-match winning streak, the longest in program history and secured UTRGV’s fourth 20-win season at 20-7 overall and 15-1 in SLC play.
This marks the program’s first conference championship since taking the Western Athletic Conference regular season crown in 2022 and its fourth overall.
The Vaqueros were also in position to clinch the outright title and the tournament’s No. 1 seed, but after Stephen F. Austin defeated Lamar Nov.15, the Ladyjacks became the top seed.
Going into the tournament, head coach Todd Lowery spoke on the team’s work.
“These group of girls deserve it on how quicky they came together and being bigger than themselves, we talked about it all year long is being part of something bigger than yourself,” Lowery said. “This group has really embraced it on and off the court and that is what showed. There was ups and downs and injuries and someone steps up and it’s been fun.”
UTRGV’s success carried over into awards week as well. The Vaqueros earned a program-record of seven Southland All-Conference and Superlative honors.
Lowery was named Katrinka Jo Crawford Coach of the Year.
Junior Isabella Costantini earned Setter of the Year; sophomore Martina Franco was selected as Newcomer of the Year; and freshman Dimitra Nanou took home Freshman of the Year. UTRGV led all programs in total honorees for the second-straight season.
With momentum and accolades behind them, the Vaqueros entered the SLC Championship tournament as the No. 2 seed.
They opened the weekend with a commanding sweep over No. 7 Houston Christian University. In the semifinals, UTRGV delivered another statement win, sweeping No. 6 Texas A&M Corpus Christi in a rivalry match to punch its ticket to the championship final.
The season culminated in a hard-fought battle against Stephen F. Austin for the SLC tournament title. Despite their momentum and strong postseason performance, the Vaqueros fell 0-3 in the championship match.
