Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men’s soccer team learned on Wednesday that senior forward William Akio is part of the Preseason All-WAC Team, as voted on by the WAC head coaches.
Additionally, UTRGV was picked to finish eighth in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
During the 2019 season, Akio was second on the team in goals (6), points (13), and shots (31), while leading the team in shots on goal (20). Akio became the eighth player in program history to score at least three goals in a single match with a hat trick against Houston Baptist that season.
UTRGV was picked ahead of Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, and Dixie State in the poll finishing with 43 points.
Seattle U was picked to finish first in the WAC with 98 total points and nine first place votes. Utah Valley was picked to finish second with one first place vote while Air Force was picked third and Grand Canyon, who received the other first place vote, was picked fourth.
UNLV was picked to finish fifth while San Jose State was picked to finish sixth and California Baptist was picked seventh.
The Vaqueros open the season on Feb. 6 at Seattle U at 8 p.m.
2020-21 Pre-Season Men’s Soccer Coaches Poll
| Rank | Team (First Place Votes) | Points |
| 1. | Seattle U (9) | 98 |
| 2. | Utah Valley (1) | 81 |
| 3. | Air Force | 79 |
| 4. | Grand Canyon (1) | 65 |
| 5. | UNLV | 63 |
| 6. | San Jose State | 60 |
| 7. | California Baptist | 54 |
| 8. | UTRGV | 43 |
| 9. | Houston Baptist | 28 |
| 10. | Incarnate Word | 23 |
| 11. | Dixie State | 11 |
2020-21 Preseason All-WAC Team
James Morris, So.,F, Seattle U
Rudi Castro, Sr., F, San José State
William Akio, Sr., F, UTRGV
Noe Meza, R-Sr., MF, Seattle U
Max Allen, Sr., MF, San José State
Tristan Trager, Jr., MF, Air Force
Alex Acton-Petronotis, Sr., D, Seattle U
Billy Jones, Sr., D, UNLV
Esai Easley, Jr., D, Grand Canyon
Mark Brown, R-Sr., D, Utah Valley
Akili Kasim, R-Jr., GK, SeattleU
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Noe Meza, Seattle U
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Alex Acton-Petronotis, Seattle U
 Vaqueros men’s soccer team learned on Wednesday that senior forward William Akio is part of the Preseason All-WAC Team){kind=link}