Volleyball’s Todd Lowery Inducted Into Red River Athletic Conference Hall of Fame

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) welcomed eight new inductees to the RRAC Hall of Fame on Dec. 20, 2024, including The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s (UTRGV) head volleyball coach Todd Lowery. 

Lowery earned induction to the Hall of Fame in recognition of his six seasons (2009-14) as the head volleyball coach of legacy institution UT Brownsville. Lowery led UTB to two NAIA national championships in 2011 and 2013, a national runner-up finish in 2014, two national semifinal appearances in 2012 and 2010, and a quarterfinal finish in his first season in 2009. The Ocelots went 205-14 in Lowery’s six seasons and notched an undefeated, 64-0 record against RRAC competition in the regular season and an unblemished 12-0 record at conference tournaments as they claimed six consecutive conference championships.

Lowery was a six-time RRAC Coach of the Year winner and coached six student-athletes to the RRAC Most Valuable Player award. He also spent six seasons (2002-08) as the head coach of National American University, where he won two additional NAIA national championships. During his 12 seasons in NAIA, Lowery accumulated three Coach of the Year awards, 12 Regional Coach of the Year awards, coached three National Player of the Year honorees, and guided student-athletes to 31 NAIA All-American recognitions.

“I’m honored to be recognized by the Red River Athletic Conference for my time at UTB It was a special time in my career and I would like to thank all the student-athletes who were part of those winning teams, as well as all the administrative support we had at UTB during my time,” Lowery said.

Following the merging of legacy institutions UTB and UT Pan American to create UTRGV, Lowery was hired as the Vaqueros head coach on Jan. 9, 2015. He is the program’s all-time leader in wins (167), winning percentage (.861), home wins (75), road wins (60), neutral site wins (33), conference wins (89), and conference winning percentage (.610). Lowery has added three conference titles and four postseason appearances to his impressive resumé in the last 10 seasons and led UTRGV to its first two postseason wins in program history as the Vaqueros reached the 2022 Women’s National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) quarterfinals.

“On behalf of our entire department, I would like to congratulate Coach Lowery on this well-deserved induction into the RRAC Hall of Fame,” UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said. “Coach Lowery has taken our volleyball program to new heights. Even as he builds something special at UTRGV, he has always remembered those who helped him get here during his incredibly successful stint at legacy institution UT Brownsville.

“Coach Lowery continues to celebrate his former student-athletes, welcoming them back for alumni celebrations and recognizing their two national championships with banners in the UTRGV Fieldhouse,” Conque continued. “Beyond the success on the court, during Coach Lowery’s 16 years in the Valley, he has become a mainstay in the volleyball community, helping to grow the sport and elevate the level of play. We are proud to now call him a Hall of Famer!”