RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The 2022 season has been a historic one for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's (UTRGV) volleyball team. Junior Luisa Silva Dos Santos and sophomore Margherita Giani deserve plenty of credit for the Vaqueros' success. 
 
The menacing middle blocker duo is leading UTRGV's block to its best season since 2016, when the Vaqueros reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. UTRGV (27-6) is averaging 2.2 blocks per set, with Santos and Giani accounting for 231 blocks – a whopping 85 percent of the Vaqueros' 271 blocks through 33 matches. 
 
"This is probably the first time that we've had this talented of middles at two spots. They can both really do everything," UTRGV head coach Todd Lowery said. "Having good middles is everything. Any team that's left at this time of year has good middles. It all starts there. When they're on and following game plans, our block gets a whole lot better and then we start digging balls around them and that's when we start scoring points in bunches." 
 
Santos began her collegiate volleyball career at Odessa College. She racked up Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) and National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) awards, including WJCAC Most Valuable Player, NJCAA All-American Second Team, All-WJCAC First Team and All-Region First Team. 
 
Santos was an immediate contributor during the 2021 season, her first at UTRGV, despite playing with a deep bone bruise in her ankle from her JUCO days. She recorded 212 kills and led the team with 100 blocks. Santos was named the 2021-22 UTRGV Female Newcomer of the Year and the New Orleans Invitational MVP. She credited her "amazing" connection with sophomore setter Luanna Emiliano, who she played club with in Brazil, for aiding her seamless transition to UTRGV. 
 
This season, Santos boasts a stellar .348 hitting percentage (best of any Vaquero with 100+ attacks), 295 kills (second most on team), 108 blocks (second most on team) and 28 aces (third most on team). She's on pace to become the program record holder in single season hitting percentage, and her 108 blocks are currently the sixth-most in single season program history with at least one more match to play. Santos made the All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Second Team. 
 
"I'm really happy about that, but it's just a title for me. It's volleyball, so everything is because of the group," Santos said. "The team and the coaches give me the confidence to get better every day. That's what's helping to do my part every game." 
 
Giani has impressed in her first season with the Vaqueros after transferring from Southern Illinois. She leads the team with 123 blocks, which is the fourth-most recorded in a single season in program history.  She tallied a career-high 10 blocks with no errors against Tarleton, while also recording 10 kills, putting her in a group tied for the seventh-most blocks in a single match in program history. Giani has 227 kills and a strong .288 hitting percentage on the season. 
 
"I fell in love with the place, with the teammates, with the people, so I decided to come here," Giani said. "It didn't take me long to adjust because my teammates are super nice. Luanna is super good, she always has the perfect sets, so we took maybe a couple of days to figure out the right timing, but after that it just went naturally." 
 
Both middles have performed extremely well this season, and they've done it in unique ways. Lowery appreciates the differences in their playing styles, which causes problems for opposing defenses. 
 
"What makes things challenging for other teams is they're both very, very different in how they play," Lowery said. "Luisa plays a little bit higher, a little bit slower, and Margherita is really fast off the floor and everything is explosive. It's hard to game plan for both of them. You have to pay attention to which one of them is in because the ball is completely different. They both block well, and they both score at a really high efficiency rate. You're going to win a lot of games like that." 
 
The Vaqueros have won a lot of games with their strong duo up the middle, and they're aiming to continue doing so. UTRGV plays at Davidson on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).  
 
Santos and Giani have been crucial contributors all season, but have come on particularly strong in the back half of the campaign to help UTRGV secure the WAC regular season title and the first postseason victories in Div. I program history. 
 
In the first round of the NIVC against Houston Christian (HCU), Santos tallied 17 blocks on .500 hitting with four blocks. She had seven kills on .400 hitting with three blocks in the second round against South Dakota State (SDSU). Giani had eight kills on .438 hitting with four blocks against HCU and six kills with five blocks against SDSU. She has not committed a blocking error in eight matches, recording 44 blocks in that stretch. 
 
"I'm just so happy. It feels so nice to be able to show that we can do something like win the WAC title. I want to keep going. I feel like we really deserve it. We want to finish strong and try really hard and have fun," Giani said. 
 
Santos added: "We're playing with confidence. It's a different feeling, especially with this group. Since the beginning everyone has been working so hard. We won the conference, unfortunately we couldn't win the tournament, but we're feeling that this group is making a difference. We are trying to make history at UTRGV. We're preparing ourselves and we're going to give everything we have and see what happens." 
 
What makes Santos special is her ability to always be available as a hitter. Lowery praised her for being quick in transition, which makes her a reliable option to score. She's present and athletic on the net, getting up high to secure momentum-swinging blocks or knock down passes that sail too close to the net. 
 
Speed and explosiveness are the keys to Giani's game. Lowery said she has improved the team's blocking because of how quick she is from side to side. That quickness also aids the other Vaqueros hitters because the opposing middle has to stay ready for Giani's fast attacks, which increases the possibility that a pin hitter might swing without a double block. Giani has excelled with the slide attack, using her speed and explosiveness to receive a quick set behind the setter and get airborne off one foot to slam down a kill. 
 
"When I came here, they told me I was going to do more of the slides, which at the beginning it wasn't really my favorite one. But it was nice to learn and it is good now," Giani said. "I just love to hit the ball really hard." 
 
The middle blocker duo has created a good relationship built on healthy competition. They enjoy watching and learning from each other, and they'll keep UTRGV Volleyball a force to be reckoned with as their careers go on. 
 
"I love how she plays. She's really good at blocking, she presses a lot and goes really high. She's always available and her transition is really fast," Giani said of Santos. "I look up to her to learn and we kind of challenge each other." 
 
Added Santos: "I'm learning a lot from her, too. The power that she has, wow. I'm scared every time she comes to hit the ball. It's insane how she's always 100 percent there. She never gives up. She's always willing to listen and willing to help." 

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