EDINBURG — UTRGV is ranked No. 55 in the first NCAA Div. I volleyball RPI rankings, released earlier this week.
It’s the highest ranking in program history for the Vaqueros, who are off to a 15-4 start and 4-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.
The RPI (ratings percentage index) is a number used to rank teams based upon its wins and losses and its strength of schedule.
Texas, Louisville, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Stanford are the top five in the poll this week.
UTRGV is ahead of some major programs including Duke (60), UCLA (69), Arizona (74) and Oklahoma (106).
“I think it’s a testament of the schedule we put together and the girls taking care of some of the wins on the way,” UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery said. “The big thing is when we create our schedule we give ourselves this opportunity. If the girls can walk through the door and win some of those big matches early on in preseason, this is a result of it.”
Three teams the Vaqueros have already played are ahead of them in the poll including UNLV (44), Texas Tech (35) and SMU (50). The Vaqueros held match point against UNLV (12-3 overall) before a collapse. They also held a 2-0 lead against Texas Tech (13-3 overall) before falling 25-22, 25-21, 15-13 in the final three sets.
UTRGV is looking to start 5-0 for the first time in the WAC on the road at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against Sam Houston (6-12 overall, 3-1 in the WAC). It will be the 20th matchup between the two teams. UTRGV won last year’s meeting in five sets.
Stephen F. Austin (15-4 overall) is the next highest ranked WAC team at 70th and the only other WAC team in the top 100. UTRGV and SFA play at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.