UTRGV outside hitter Giovana Ribeiro serves the ball during morning practice last Tuesday in the UTRGV Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus. Aura Velasquez/THE RIDER
The UTRGV Volleyball Team has secured its place in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
The Vaqueros are currently third in the WAC standings and have a 16-11 overall and 10-4 conference record.
Head coach Todd Lowery said making it to the WAC Tournament has become a standard for the program.
“For us, it’s almost something that we have to do,” Lowery said. “We don’t feel like it’s something that should be up for question. We feel like we have established the program enough that that’s where we should be.”
He said the team looks forward to solidifying its seeding with more wins during its last games of the regular season.
“We are looking to improve every single day,” Lowery said. “That was a big goal with this team. … We had a lot of new players, so our goal was, ‘How much better can we get in November than we were in October than in September than August?’”
He said now it comes down to refining little details with the team to be in top shape for the tournament.
“It’s just little tweaks and how do we make little adjustments to match up with those teams that are left and teams that we’re likely to face from here on out,” the head coach said.
Lowery said he looked forward to playing the other teams in the conference, but Grand Canyon University and Stephen F. Austin State University had “a mark on their back.”
The head coach was thrilled with the amount of fan support and the attendance at games.
“The crowds have been amazing all year long,” he said. “ … I think we had five less home games than we did last year, and we’re chasing the attendance record for the second year in a row and I think that’s phenomenal. … I can’t say enough how much it means to our girls when people show up.”
Junior outside hitter Ilana De Assis said she was excited about being in Division 1 and making it to the WAC Tournament.
“We’re getting ready mentally to go to the tournament,” she said. “But we have a chance to win and now we know how the teams play. So, we have to figure out how to win the games that we lost.”
Asked if she feels pressure making it to the tournament and doing well, De Assis replied she does feel some.
“Every single game is a different game,” she said. “ … If we won the WAC Tournament, it’s going to be something special. So, I feel pressure because I want this result.”
Senior middle blocker Luisa Silva Dos Santos said she doesn’t feel the pressure anymore as it is her last year playing after a long time. Dos Santos said she tries to keep her newer teammates calm and more at ease.
“We’re always going to have the pressure,” she said. “But you have to enjoy it and know why we’re here.”
She said the team has been working hard and adjusting its strategy.
“We come here, we prepare our minds, we prepare our bodies, come to treatment, study the teams,” Dos Santos said.
The senior middle blocker said the team studies the other teams, new rotations and strategies and uses the knowledge in split-second decisions during games.
The WAC Tournament is set to take place from Nov. 16-18 at the Lockhart Arena in Orem, Utah.
