The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros (2-3, 0-0 WAC) vs. Louisiana (3-1) + Incarnate Word (4-3) + Texas Southern (1-5) + Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (1-5) Matches #6-9 • Home Matches #1-4 at UTRGV Fieldhouse Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 9-12, 2021
UTRGV 2021 Schedule 2021 Roster Date Opponent TV/Result Time/Record August (2-0) Probable Starters 2021 Statistics New Orleans Invitational 8/28 vs. Alcorn State W 3-0 1-0 No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown K/Set A/Set D/Set B/Set 8/27 at New Orleans W 3-1 2-0 1 Evana Ramos L 5-1 Fr. Edinburg, TX 0.05 0.80 2.95 0.00 8/27 vs. Tennessee State CNCL (Hurricane Ida) 2 Perris Key OH 5-8 Fr. Katy, TX 1.00 0.07 1.47 0.13 September (0-3, 0-0 WAC) Cowtown Classic 7 Luisa Silva Dos Santos MB 6-0 So. Belo Horizonte, Brazil 2.15 0.30 0.60 0.70 9/2 vs. UMBC L 2-3 2-1 8 Sarah Cruz RS 6-2 Jr. Olomouc, CZ 3.53 0.26 1.79 0.74 9/2 at TCU L 0-3 2-2 9 Luanna Emiliano S 5-7 Fr. Belo Horizonte, Brazil 0.45 8.55 3.15 0.15 9/3 vs. Nicholls State L 2-3 2-3 UTRGV Tournament 11 Ioanna Charitonidi OH 5-11 So. Athens, Greece 1.67 0.06 2.28 0.22 9/9 Louisiana ESPN+ 7 p.m. 14 Veronika Jandova MB 6-2 Sr. Prague, CZ 1.95 0.05 0.15 1.15 9/10 Incarnate Word ESPN+ 7 p.m. 9/11 Texas Southern ESPN+ 5 p.m. 9/12 Corpus Christi ESPN+ 1 p.m. Off the Bench 2021 Statistics Pirate Invitational No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown K/Set A/Set D/Set B/Set 9/17 vs. Appalachian State 10 a.m. 9/17 at East Carolina ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. 3 Julia Abramo Rocha S 5-7 Fr. São Paulo, Brazil 0.22 2.22 0.56 0.00 9/18 vs. Gardner-Webb 11 a.m. 4 Yasmim Da Silva OH 5-11 Jr. Guaramirim, Santa Catarina, Brazil 1.69 0.31 1.06 0.38 9/23 UTEP ESPN+ 7 p.m. 5 Ingridy Foltran OH 6-0 Fr. Barueri, Brazil 1.27 0.00 0.45 0.36 9/25 Stephen F. Austin* ESPN+ 2 p.m. October (0-0, 0-0 WAC) 6 Karson Davis S 5-8 Fr. Conroe, TX N/A N/A N/A N/A 10/2 at Lamar* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 10 Revna Çakir MB 6-0 Fr. Bursa, Turkey N/A N/A N/A N/A 10/7 at Abilene Christian* ESPN+ 6 p.m. 12 Regina Tijerina L 5-2 Jr. Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico N/A N/A N/A N/A 10/9 at Tarleton* ESPN+ 1 p.m. 10/16 Sam Houston* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 13 Maria Eduarda “Duda” Rodrigues RS 6-3 So. Belo Horizonte, Brazil N/A N/A N/A N/A WAC Cluster (@ Lamar) 17 Ada Bulgur OH 6-1 Fr. Istanbul, Turkey 0.50 0.33 0.67 0.33 10/22 vs. Seattle U* 1 p.m. 10/23 vs. Chicago State* 1 p.m. 10/25 at Corpus Christi 6:30 p.m. Head Coach Todd Lowery (Seventh Season, Black Hills State) 10/28 at Sam Houston* ESPN+ 6:30 p.m. Assistant Coach Vini Baigan (Seventh Season, Park College) 10/30 at Stephen F. Austin* ESPN+ 12 p.m. Assistant Coach Paulina Ramirez (Second Season, UTRGV) November (0-0, 0-0 WAC) 11/3 at UTEP 7 p.m. 11/6 Lamar* ESPN+ 2 p.m. 11/11 Tarleton* ESPN+ 7 p.m. Pronunciations 11/13 Abilene Christian* ESPN+ 2 p.m. WAC Tournament (@ New Mexico State) 1 Evana Ramos [ee-VAH-nah] [RAH-mohs] 11/18 Quarterfinals ESPN+ 11 a.m./2/5/8 p.m. 3 Julia Abramo [ah-BRAH-mo] 11/19 Semifinals ESPN+ 5/8 p.m. 11/20 Championship ESPN+ 8 p.m. •When referring to last name, can just say “Abramo” NCAA Tournament 4 Yasmim da Silva [YAZ-meem] 12/3 Round of 64 ESPN3 TBD 5 Ingridy Foltran [IN-grid-ee] [fohl-TRON] 12/4 Round of 32 ESPN3 TBD 12/10 Round of 16 ESPN3 TBD 7 Luisa Santos [loo-EE-zah] [SAHN-tohs] 12/11 Quarterfinals ESPN3 TBD •When referring to last name, can just say “Santos” 12/16 Semifinals ESPN2 TBD 9 Luanna Emiliano [loo-AH-nah] [EH-mill-ee-AH-no] 12/18 Championship ESPN2 TBD Home matches in bold All Times CT 10 Revna Çakir [rev-NAH] [checker] *Western Athletic Conference Match 11 Ioanna Charitonidi [ee-oh-AH-nah] [HA-ree-to-KNEE-dee] •Note: “Cha” sound referred to as “HA” is pronounced like Channukah or Bach 12 Regina Tijerina [tih-ha-REE-nah] 13 Duda Rodrigues [DOO-da] •Goes by Duda, her nickname 14 Veronika Jandova [YAN-doh-vah] 17 Ada Bulgur [ah-DUH] [bowl-GER] (hard g) Vini Baigan [BYE-gun]
Year-By-Year Records Under Coach Lowery Record Home Road Neutral WAC Home Road WAC Tournament Home Road Neutral NCAA NIVC RPI 2015 12-19 5-6 2-11 5-2 4-10 3-4 1-6 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 N/A 248 2016 21-14 7-2 7-9 7-3 7-7 5-2 2-5 3-0 0-0 1-0 2-0 0-1 N/A 123 2017 17-12 11-1 3-8 3-3 10-4 7-0 3-4 1-1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 153 2018 22-9 11-2 9-3 2-4 13-3 7-1 6-2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 76 2019 14-17 6-6 5-8 3-3 9-8 5-3 3-5 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 171 2020-21 2-15 1-5 1-8 0-1 2-12 1-5 1-7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 271 2021 2-3 0-0 1-1 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Total 90-89 41-23 28-48 21-19 44-44 28-15 16-29 6-5 1-2 1-1 3-3 0-1 0-0 Streaks L3 L3 L1 L2 L4 L3 L2 L4 L2 L1 L2 L1 N/A
2021 UTRGV Match Notes 1
How the 2021 Squad Was Built Returning Players (7) Freshmen (3) Junior College Transfers (3) Transfers (2) Ada Bulgur Luanna Emiliano Julia Abramo Rocha Karson Davis Revna Çakir Ingridy Foltran Maria Eduarda Rodrigues Regina Tijerina Ioanna Charitonidi Perris Key Luisa Silva Dos Santos Sarah Cruz Yasmim Da Silva Veronika Jandova Evana Ramos
Class Breakdown Seniors (1) Juniors (3) Sophomores (3) Freshmen (8) Veronika Jandova Sarah Cruz Ioanna Charitonidi Ada Bulgur Yasmim Da Silva Maria Eduarda Rodrigues Revna Çakir Regina Tijerina Luisa Silva Dos Santos Karson Davis Luanna Emiliano Ingridy Foltran Perris Key Evana Ramos Julia Abramo Rocha
By Home State/Country Brazil (6) Texas (3) Czech Republic (2) Turkey (2) Greece (1) Yasmim Da Silva Karson Davis Sarah Cruz Ada Bulgur Ioanna Charitonidi Luanna Emiliano Perris Key Veronika Jandova Revna Çakir Ingridy Foltran Evana Ramos Mexico (1) Julia Abramo Rocha Regina Tijerina Maria Eduarda Rodrigues Luisa Silva Dos Santos
2021 UTRGV Match Notes 2
• Senior Veronika Jandova recorded 16 kills on .481 hitting with Playing All Your Favorite Hits three blocks.
• Senior Veronika Jandova ranks among the best hitters in program • Freshman Ingridy Foltran finished with 11 kills and two blocks. history (minimum 500 attacks): • Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted her fourth double-double with Rank Hitting Percentage Name Year 56 assists and 15 digs. Emiliano earned All-Tournament Team 1. .320 Lisa Yanez 1993-96 honors by averaging 8.31 assists and 2.77 digs in 13 sets. 2. .293 Alexandra Ecker 2015-19 3. .278 Veronika Jandova 2017-Present TCU (9/2) 4. .249 Barbara Silva 2016-19 5. .250 Maria Kleifoth 2009-10 • UTRGV fell to host TCU 0-3 (17-25, 17-25, 17-25). 6. .248 Rita Gonzalez 2009-10 7. .240 Cathi Netemeyer 2002-04 • Junior Sarah Cruz recorded a team-high eight kills, five digs and 8. .236 Haley Durham 2012-15 two aces. 9. .234 Ragni Steen Knudsen 2016-19 10. .228 Talita Oliveira 2017-19 • Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted 22 assists and nine digs.
Block Party UMBC (9/2)
• UTRGV defended on match point seven times in the third set and • Senior Veronika Jandova is among the top blockers in program 10, dominated the fourth set, and then defended on match point history (minimum 100 blocks): three more times in the fifth set before ultimately falling to UMBC 2-3 (18-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-14, 11-15). Rank Blocks Per Set Name Year 1. 1.01 Talita Oliveira 2017-19 • Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded a team-high 15 kills, 2. 0.91 Alexandra Ecker 2015-18 three assists, four digs, one ace and four blocks. 3. 0.87 Veronika Jandova 2017-Present 4. 0.82 Haley Durham 2012-15 • Junior Sarah Cruz finished with 11 kills, five digs and three blocks. 5. 0.79 Sarah Davis 2009-12
6. 0.78 Barbara Silva 2016-19 • Senior Veronika Jandova recorded nine kills on .312 hitting with
five blocks. 2021 Match Notes • Sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi posted nine kills, 13 digs, two Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (9/12) aces and two blocks.
• UTRGV is 18-27 all-time against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, • Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted her third-straight double- including an 11-8 record at home, in a series dating back to 2000. double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
• UTRGV has won five of the last eight matchups. Tennessee State (8/28)
Texas Southern (9/11) • This matchup was canceled due to schedule changes stemming from the threat of Hurricane Ida. • UTRGV is 46-8 all-time against Texas Southern, including a 22-5 record at home, in a series dating back to 1973. New Orleans (8/27)
• UTRGV has won the last six matchups and 41 of the last 42. • UTRGV beat host New Orleans 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21).
Incarnate Word (9/10) • UTRGV is 2-0 for the first time since 2018.
• UTRGV is 13-7 all-time against Incarnate Word, including a 4-3 • Sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi recorded a career-high 12 kills on record at home, in a series dating back to 1982. .379 hitting, 13 digs and career-high tying two blocks for her first- career double-double. • UTRGV has won the last three matchups and six of the last seven. • Junior Sarah Cruz recorded 11 kills with six digs and five blocks. Louisiana (9/9) • Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos finished with 10 kills on an • This is the 25th meeting all-time between UTRGV and Louisiana in error-free .625 hitting, a match-high four aces and three blocks en a series dating back to 1987. UTRGV has six wins in that time, two route to New Orleans Invitational MVP honors. of which have come in seven home matches. • Senior Veronika Jandova recorded a career-high tying 11 blocks, • These two teams last met in 2013. tied for the third-highest single-match total in program history.
Nicholls (9/3) • Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted a double-double with a match- high 39 assists, 17 digs, five kills on .625 hitting and two blocks en • UTRGV came back from down 0-2 to force a fifth set before falling route to All-Tournament Team honors. to Nicholls 2-3 (20-25, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 10-15). Alcorn State (8/27) • Junior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (2-3) with a career-high tying 22 kills, 12 digs and three blocks for her first double-double of the • UTRGV swept Alcorn State 25-10, 25-13, 25-18. season, the seventh of her career. • This is the first time UTRGV has won its season opener since 2018.
2021 UTRGV Match Notes 3
• Junior Sarah Cruz recorded a match-high 15 kills on .519 hitting 6. Lamar 6 with six digs. (Points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis as coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams) • In her UTRGV debut, sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos finished
with eight kills on an error-free .615 hitting, a match-high five aces and two blocks. • UTRGV has finished higher than picked in three of head coach Todd Lowery’s first six seasons. UTRGV was picked to finish
fourth and finished fourth in 2019. UTRGV was picked to finish • In her UTRGV debut, freshman Edinburg North alum Evana second in 2018 but came in first. UTRGV was picked to finish Ramos posted a match-high 14 digs with three assists and one second in 2017 and did just that. UTRGV was picked to finish sixth ace. and seventh the previous two years, finishing fifth and sixth,
respectively. • In her UTRGV debut, freshman Luanna Emiliano fished out a
match-high 24 assists with two aces and 10 digs for a double- double. 2020-21 Team Notes
Preseason Notes • Outside hitter Ada Bulgur was part of the WAC All-Freshman Team.
• UTRGV was picked fifth in the Southwest Division in the Preseason • Bulgur stepped into a big role for the Vaqueros right away, starting WAC Coaches’ Poll: 13 of UTRGV’s 16 matches and averaging 1.69 kills, 0.73 digs and
0.27 blocks per set. Bulgur has led the Vaqueros in kills and blocks Place Team (First Place Votes) Pts. three times each and reached double-figures in kills twice, 1. Stephen F. Austin (4) 24 including a career-high 12 kills in three sets at Grand Canyon on Feb. 23. She also had a big match in a win at Seattle U, recording 2. Sam Houston (2) 21 nine kills on .280 hitting with a career-high three aces, two digs and a career-high four blocks in four sets. 3. Tarleton 15 4. Abilene Christian 13 5. UTRGV 11
2021 Starting Lineups (1)
Match No. OH OH RS MB MB S L W-L Pct. 1-2, 5 Charitonidi Da Silva Cruz Jandova Santos Emiliano Ramos 2-1 1.000 3-4 Charitonidi Key Cruz Jandova Santos Emiliano Ramos 0-2 .000
2021 UTRGV Leaders
Kills Digs Blocks Assists Double- Individual Match Leaders Player 10+ 20+ 10+ 20+ 30+ 10+ 10+ 20+ 30+ 40+ 50+ Doubles K D B A Ada Bulgur Revna Çakir Ioanna Charitonidi 1 2 1 1 1 Sarah Cruz 3 1 1 1 3 1 Yasmim Da Silva Karson Davis Luanna Emiliano 4 2 2 1 4 2 5 Ingridy Foltran 1 Veronika Jandova 1 1 4 Perris Key 1 Evana Ramos 5 2 Julia Abramo Rocha 1 Maria Eduarda Rodrigues Luisa Silva Dos Santos 2 1 2 Regina Tijerina
2021 UTRGV Match Notes 4
2020-21 Record When … 2021 Individual Records in Starting Lineup
Home Road Neutral Overall Players W-L Pct. Leading after first set ...... 0-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 Ioanna Charitonidi 2-3 .400 Trailing after first set ...... 0-0 0-1 0-2 0-3 Sarah Cruz 2-3 .400 Luanna Emiliano 2-3 .400 Leading after second set .... 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 Veronika Jandova 2-3 .400 .400 Trailing after second set ..... 0-0 0-1 0-2 0-3 Evana Ramos 2-3 Luisa Silva Dos Santos 2-3 .400 Tied after second set ...... 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 Yasmim da Silva 2-1 .667
Perris Key 0-2 .000 Leading after third set ...... 0-0 1-0 1-0 2-0
Trailing after third set ...... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-2 Service Aces Home Road Neutral Overall
Leading ...... 0-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 Tied after fourth set ...... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-2 Trailing ...... 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-2
Tied ...... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 When Playing … Home Road Neutral Overall
Three Sets ...... 0-0 0-1 1-0 1-1 By Conference … Home Road Neutral Overall Four Sets ...... 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 America East ...... 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 Five Sets ...... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-2 American ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 At a Tournament ...... 0-0 1-1 1-2 2-3 Big 12 ...... 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 Match 1 of DH ...... 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-1 Conference USA ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Match 2 of DH ...... 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 Southland ...... 0-0 1-0 0-1 1-1
Sun Belt ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Hitting Home Road Neutral Overall SWAC ...... 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 Hitting .300 or better ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 WAC ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Hitting .200-.299 ...... 0-0 1-0 1-2 2-2
Hitting .100-.199 ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 By Day … Home Road Neutral Overall Hitting below .100 ...... 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 On Sunday ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Out-hitting the opposition ... 0-0 1-0 1-1 2-1 On Monday ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Getting out-hit ...... 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-2 On Tuesday ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Tied in hitting percentage ... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 On Wednesday ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
On Thursday ...... 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-2 Kills Home Road Neutral Overall On Friday ...... 0-0 1-0 1-1 2-1 Leading ...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-2 On Saturday ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Trailing ...... 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1
Tied ...... 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 By Month … Home Road Neutral Overall
In August ...... 0-0 1-0 1-0 2-0 Blocks Home Road Neutral Overall In September ...... 0-0 0-1 0-2 0-3 Leading ...... 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 In October ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Trailing ...... 0-0 0-1 0-2 0-3 In November ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Tied ...... 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 In December ...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Digs Home Road Neutral Overall
Leading ...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 1-2
Trailing ...... 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1
Tied 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
2021 UTRGV Match Notes 5
Todd Lowery Head Coach Date Named: 1/19/15 • Head Coaching Experience: 17th Season • College: Bowling Green State University
Todd Lowery, who won two national championships as the head coach of the Watson, the later of which was the WAC Tournament MVP, and Ragni Steen University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) volleyball team, was hired as the head Knudsen, who broke the NCAA DI program record for kills in a season. UTRGV coach of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team on put together the best blocking season in program history, as Barbara Silva, Jan. 9, 2015. Alexandra Ecker and Mitrovic all surpassed the previous NCAA DI program record for block assists in a season. Silva also shattered the program records for 2020-21: In pandemic-shortened season, led team to No. 4 seed in WAC blocks per set and total blocks. UTRGV showed strong passing ability throughout Tournament … Coached Ada Bulgur to WAC All-Freshman Team honors. the season, as Fatoumata Dacosta ranked first in the WAC and the state of Texas as well as 19th in the nation in digs. As a team, UTRGV led the WAC and 2019: In his fifth season at UTRGV, led team to first-ever victory over a Big 10 ranked in the top 20 in the nation in kills, assists, digs and blocks. opponent, knocking off Maryland 3-2 … Also took sets over SEC (Texas A&M) and Pac-12 (Washington State) opponents for the first time … Hosted Power 5 2015: In his first seasn at the helm of UTRGV, Lowey led the team to a 7-8 record opponent (Washington State) for second year in a row … Coached Barbara Silva in non-conference play before showing signs of serious improvement against to All-WAC First Team and Victoire Nama to WAC All-Freshman Team honors. WAC teams down the stretch. UTRGV won four of its final eight matches, including a sweep of defending WAC Tournament Champion CSU Bakersfield in 2018: In his fourth season at UTRGV, led the team to its first-ever WAC the regular seasn and a sweep of third-seeded Utah Valley in the WAC Championship by finishing first with a 13-3 record. UTRGV broke a number or Tournament Quarterfinals. Lowery coached Bojana Mitrovic to All-WAC First NCAA DI program records, including RPI (76), wins (22), winning percentage Team honors, as she led the WAC in kills per set (program record 4.30), total kills (.710), road wins (9), conference wins (13), conference winning percentage (.813) (program record 460), points per set (4.82) and total points (515.5) while ranking and conference road wins (6). UTRGV also tied records for home wins (11) and 10th in total digs (253). He also developed Alexandra Ecker into the best conference home wins (7). The success led UTRGV to draw a program record freshman hitter in program history (.285) and Dubravka Vukoja into one of the 9,786 fans, an average of a record 753 fans per match, including a record 2,176 best setters, as she averaged 9.16 assists per set, the sixth-highest single-season fans for a match against Texas Tech. Lowery coached Ragni Steen Knudsen to total in program history. Both Ecker and Vukoja earned All-WAC Freshman Team WAC Player of the Year and All-WAC First Team honors and Alexandra Ecker honors. and Barbara Silva to All-WAC Second Team honors. Additionally, UTRGV earned a program record and WAC-high six WAC Volleyball Player of the Week awards. Career: Lowery was the head coach at National American University (NAU) from 2002-08 and UTB from 2009-14. During that time, he went 416-36 (.920) to go 2017: In his third season at UTRGV, Lowery led the team to its second-straight with four NAIA national championships (2002, 2006, 2011, and 2013). His team WAC Tournament Championship berth. UTRGV finished a program-best second went 211-22 (.906) at NAU, including 41-0 records in 2002 and 2006, and 205-14 in the WAC with a program record 10 WAC wins as part of a 17-win season that (.936) at UTB, including a 37-0 record in 2013. included eight sweeps. UTRGV also won a program record 11 home matches, including a 10-0 mark during the regular season. The success of the team led In 2014, Lowery led UTB to a 34-5 record and the No. 2 ranking in the nation after UTRGV to draw a program record 8,861 fans, including a record 1,634 fans for the reaching the national championship match. WAC Tournament Championship Match. Lowery coached three All-WAC honorees, including first teamers Ragni Steen Knudsen and Bojana Mitrovic His student-athletes have included 31 NAIA All-Americans, three NAIA National and second teamer Barbara Silva. Players of the Year, six Region III MVPs, and six Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) MVPs. His teams have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 2016: In his second season at UTRGV, Lowery led the team to its first NCAA or higher nine times. Tournament berth by becoming the first No. 5 seed to win the WAC Tournament Championship. Lowery coached the team to its first winning season in 13 years, Lowery has racked up the personal accolades as well, earning the 2006 NAIA posting the best winning percentage (.600) and most wins (21) in NCAA DI National Coach of the Year award, two NAIA National Tournament Coach of the program history. UTRGV opened the season with a signature win at Baylor, a Year awards (2006 and 2011), 12 regional coach of the year awards (2002-07 and team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, en route to the 2009-14), six RRAC Coach of the Year awards (2009-14), and one South Dakota Baylor Invitational Tournament Championship. UTRGV went 2-1 during all four of Associate Press Coach of the Year award (2002). its non-conference tournaments, finishing in second in the other three tournaments. The non-conference success was a big reason reason for UTRGV’s Lowery earned his Master of Education degree in Education Administration in 10-win Septemeber, marking the second winningest month in NCAA DI program 2002 from Chadron State. He completed his Bachelor of Education in Physical history. UTRGV punctuated non-conference play by knocking off NCAA Education with a Minor in Athletic Coaching, Chemistry, and Health and Wellness Tournament participant Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the first time since 2007. at Black Hills State in 2000. UTRGV went on to win a program record seven WAC matches. UTRGV was one of just four teams in the NCAA Tournament with three players averaging at least Lowery resides in the Rio Grande Valley with his wife, Missy, and their sons, three kills per set, including All-WAC honorees Bojana Mitrovic and Alisha Braxton and Jordan.
Year School Record Conference Postseason 2021 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 2-3 (.400) 0-0 (.000) 2020-21 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 2-15 (.118) 2-12 (.143) 2019 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 14-17 (.452) 8-8 (.500) 2018 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 22-9 (.710) 13-3 (.813) 2017 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 17-12 (.586) 10-4 (.714) 2016 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 21-14 (.600) 7-7 (.500) NCAA Tournament First Round 2015 The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 12-19 (.387) 4-10 (.286) 2014 The University of Texas at Brownsville 34-5 (.872) 13-0 (1.000) NAIA Runners Up 2013 The University of Texas at Brownsville 37-0 (1.000) 12-0 (1.000) NAIA National Champions 2012 The University of Texas at Brownsville 30-2 (.938) 10-0 (1.000) NAIA Semifinals 2011 The University of Texas at Brownsville 32-2 (.941) 9-0 (1.000) NAIA National Champions 2010 The University of Texas at Brownsville 38-2 (.950) 14-0 (1.000) NAIA Semifinals 2009 The University of Texas at Brownsville 34-3 (.919) 17-0 (1.000) NAIA Quarterfinals 2007 National American University 26-11 (.703) 2006 National American University 41-0 (1.000) NAIA National Champions 2005 National American University 33-3 (.919) 2004 National American University 31-5 (.861) 2003 National American University 39-3 (.929) 2002 National American University 41-0 (1.000) NAIA National Champions TOTALS (631 Matches) 506-125 (.802) 119-44 (.730) Four NAIA National Championships
2021 UTRGV Match Notes 6 Evana Ramos L 1 Height: 5-1 • Hometown: Edinburg, TX • Year: Freshman
2021 Season Highs Category Career Highs Recorded 14 digs and three assists while starting at libero in each of first 1 9/3/21 vs. Nicholls Kills 1 9/3/21 vs. Nicholls two-career matches vs. Alcorn State and at New Orleans (8/27). 1 2x, Last 9/3/21 vs. Nicholls Attacks 1 2x, Last 9/3/21 vs. Nicholls 2020-21 (Freshman): Did not compete in any matches. 5 9/2/21 vs. UMBC Assists 5 9/2/21 vs. UMBC 1 2x, Last 9/2/21 @ TCU Aces 1 2x, Last 9/2/21 @ TCU 2017-20 (Edinburg North High School): 2020 District 31-6A MVP … 14 2x, Last 8/27/21 @ UNO Digs 14 2x, Last 8/27/21 @ UNO Averaged 2.60 kills while serving up 347 aces in 120 sets … Averaged 0 N/A Blocks 0 N/A 8.80 digs per set during sophomore and junior years.