Vaqueras receive all-district honors

Four UTRGV Volleyball Team players have received Academic All-District Honors by the College Sports Communicators.

Sophomore setter Luanna Emiliano, outside hitter Perris Key, junior middle blocker Luisa Silva Dos Santos and junior libero Regina Tijerina earned the honor.

“The Academic All‐District Women’s Volleyball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom,” according to a Nov. 22 news release.

Asked how it felt to be chosen for the award, Emiliano replied that it was a recognition for all the effort they have put in during the semester.

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Emiliano said. “Like, it’s hard to balance everything, school and mental health. So yeah, it is a good thing.”

Key said it was a great honor to be chosen because balancing being an athlete and a student is hard.

Silva Dos Santos agreed it is hard to balance both, but it is a good thing to see they are doing the right thing.

“We have everything we need here,” Silva Dos Santos said. “Like, [the Athletics staff] support us, we have advisers. We have time to do our stuff. So yeah, it’s really good.”

Tijerina said it is exciting to see all the work they have put in throughout the year pay off.

“It feels good,” she said. “[It is] exciting because having to balance practice and studying is not that easy.”

Emiliano said she is able to balance academics and sports with the help of advisers.

“Here we have time to study, play, to have fun and enjoy,” she said.  “That’s awesome.”

Key said that balancing academics and sports is a matter of scheduling and talking to coaches and instructors.

Asked what their motivation has been on and off the court, Emiliano replied her future is what motivates her.

“I think, for me, it’s, like, my future,” she said. “I think I just do everything for my life, like, better in the future, like, with my family [and] with my friends. Yeah, I think that’s what motivated me every day.”

Key said her motivation is making her parents proud and showing them all their efforts paid off.

“Showing them that all the hard work that they poured in to get me here has paid off,” she said.

Silva Dos Santos said she is here to build a future, so she tries her best in everything she does.

“So when we are outside of the court, like we just tried to give our best,” she said.

Tijerina said her parents and teammates are motivation for her. She said if it was not for her parents, she would not be able to deal with the stress and sports.

“Also, having my teammates,” she said. “That they’re always, like, motivating me during practice. Like, I try to motivate them, too. We have good energy and I think the environment is very important to have motivation for the sport.”

Asked what the hardest part of getting to this point was, Emiliano replied leaving home.

“I didn’t know if it would be nice,” she said. “Of course, I knew the school, but I didn’t know if it would be what I was thinking. Leaving my parents was the hardest part for me.”

Key said the hardest part is trying to stay motivated.

“Trying to find the urge to finish school,” she said. “Because I feel, like, today, you don’t need a degree to do a lot of things, but having it is really nice.”

Silva Dos Santos said trying to stay motivated while being away from her family at the same time is the hardest part.

Head coach Todd Lowery said the awards are a testament to the amount of work the players put into academics and their sport.

“So, the fact that those girls are able to compete at such a high level and take care of it academically is a huge honor for them,” Lowery said. “And it’s something that we stress a lot in our program …the academic side of things.” 

He said at the end of the day, the players are here to get an education.

“Ultimately, we bring all these kids here to get a degree,” Lowery said. “They’re gonna play. The ones that go on to play professionally make it to another [five to nine] years, but after, they have to get out into the real world and do something else with their life after volleyball ends.”

Lowery said when recruiting players, the Athletics recruiting staff let them know that graduating and doing good in classes is their No. 1 focus.

He said the players have resources to ensure they do well academically, such as mandated study hall on the road.

The Vaqueras were set to play in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship Tournament, with their first game 7 p.m. last Friday against Houston Christian University at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Results were not available at press time.