SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Southland Conference released its yearly awards and all-conference selections on Wednesday prior to the 2026 Southland Conference Softball Championship beginning on Thursday.
 
UIW outfielder Victoria Altamirano earned Player of the Year honors for the third consecutive season and the Hitter of the Year award for the second straight year. The senior is the first SLC player to win both awards in multiple seasons in nearly a decade. She also received First Team All-SLC recognition.
 
Through the end of the regular season, Altamirano led the conference in home runs (21), batting average (.446), on-base percentage (.597), slugging percentage (1.022), OPS (1.619), runs (69), RBI (62), walks (49) and total bases (142). She was the only player in the SLC with more than 15 home runs and finished 31 total bases clear of second place. Altamirano ranks in the top 25 in Division I in each of those categories.
 
She is on pace to eclipse her own UIW single season slugging percentage and OPS records, which she set last year. Altamirano has already posted new single season home run and total bases records and climbed into first place on the Cardinals' career home runs and RBI lists this year.
 
The Cardinals also boasted a pair of Second Team All-SLC honorees. Infielder Bryanna Fuentes earned her first career conference award after hitting .400 with a 1.000 OPS and 15 extra base hits in the regular season. She was sixth in the SLC in batting average and top 20 in OPS and OBP. 
 
Junior Ayla Gonzales also picked up her first SLC honor, securing a spot on the Second Team. The outfielder hit .353, which tied for 15th-best in the conference, with a .415 OBP and nine stolen bases without being caught.
 
Sydney Zenon was named to the SLC All-Defensive Team. The junior was a mainstay at first base for the Cardinals, starting all 51 games in her first season at UIW.
 
The Cardinals earned the No. 4 seed in this weekend's SLC Championship and a place in the Hammond Bracket, hosted by No. 1 seed Southeastern Louisiana. UIW begins postseason play at 1 p.m. on Thursday against No. 5 seed Lamar. The winner of that game faces the winner of SLU and No. 8 seed Texas A&M-CC in the double elimination competition.