ODESSA, Texas (November 5, 2026) – Goalkeeper Valeria Delgado of The University of Texas Permian Basin women's soccer team has been named Academic All-Lone Star Conference for the second season in a row in 2026.

Delgado is the first two-time LSC All-Academic team selection in the history of UTPB women's soccer. Delgado and Claire Jacobson (Lubbock Christian) are the lone repeat selections to the LSC All-Academic Team this season.

Delgado was UTPB's female nominee for the 2026 Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Year award. Delgado is a marketing major with a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average, and last year she became just the second UTPB women's soccer player to be named to the LSC All-Academic team.

This season she was a team captain and was named to the 2026 LSC Preseason Players to Watch list for goalkeepers for the third year in a row. She played in all 17 matches with 14 starts as a senior goalkeeper. She was second on the team in minutes played (1,191). Facing the challenge of playing on a team that allowed 18 shots per game, Delgado made 92 saves, the second-highest total in the LSC this season, and was fourth in the conference in saves per game (5.41). Delgado played all 90 minutes 10 times this season, including in nine of the final 10 matches of the year. She totaled at least five saves in 11 out of 14 conference matches, including in nine straight matches leading up to Senior Day. She also made at least nine saves in three matches. Her career-high 12 saves vs. Lubbock Christian (Sept. 30) were tied for the fifth-most saves in a single match in the LSC this season. Early in the season she was a part of back-to-back shutouts that helped UTPB achieve the first 3-0-0 start to a season in program history (NCAA DII era) and earn its first three-match winning streak since the 2009 season.

In her four-year career at UTPB, Delgado started in 54 of her 60 matches; totaled over 4,800 minutes, 12 wins and five shutouts; and made 279 saves with a 1.65 goals-against average and a .760 save percentage. She made at least eight saves in 10 matches over her final two seasons. In UTPB's career record book, Delgado finished her career ranked first in goals-against average (1.65) and goalkeeper minutes (4,831), was second in saves (279) and wins (12), and was tied for third in shutouts (5).

In her career she has also been named the Lone Star Conference Goalkeeper of the Week in 2024 (10/1/2024) and the UTPB Edgardo Madrid & Associates Women's Student-Athlete of the Month in 2025 (September 2025).

She and was selected to both the Lone Star Conference All-Academic Team and the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District® Women's Soccer Team in 2025. She was a member of UTPB's inaugural Chi Alpha Sigma Class in 2025-26, has been named to the Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll in each of her first six semesters with a 4.0 GPA, and earned the D2 ADA Academic Achievement Award in both 2025 and 2026.

Her additional awards/recognitions include: Awarded National Leadership Scholarship 2025 (NSLS); Awarded Naylor Undergraduate Research Workshop 2024 invitation (unable to assist due to athletics); Invited to the 2025 Legislative Days Conference by the Midland and Odessa Chambers of Commerce (held in Austin, Texas); Marketing Experience Club Secretary; Student Housing Resident Assistant (RA); Athletics Marketing & Communications intern; WSOC social media support; Business Advisory Council member; Earned recognition on the UTPB President's List, NSLS National Leadership Scholarship, Betta Sigma Gamma nomination, and Chi Alpha Sigma.

The All-Academic Team, selected by vote of the LSC sports information directors, recognizes student-athlete accomplishments in the classroom and on the soccer pitch. To be eligible for the All-Academic Team ballot, individuals must maintain a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average and have reached sophomore athletic eligibility.