RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Excitement was in the air as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley women's volleyball team kicked off the 2022 season Tuesday morning with its first practice at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. 
 
With five starters returning and a good team culture, the Vaqueros believe this season is going to be a special one, and they were amped up to get the campaign started. 
 
"In my four years I've been here, I've never seen a group that was this excited to be practicing," senior outside hitter Sarah Cruz said. "We took control of the things we needed to work on during the offseason, doing volleyball, conditioning and weightlifting. Now it's just a matter of getting better during preseason. The main thing is to get comfortable with each other, get our communication started, and just enjoy practice and work hard every day."
 
Head coach Todd Lowery noticed the work his student-athletes did during the offseason and felt the team looked good in its first training session. One primary point of emphasis through the first week of practice will be ball control. The Vaqueros did a variety of defensive drills to work on digging different shots, accurate passing and serve-receive. Lowery and his assistants emphasized footwork, staying low, platform angles and endurance by doing 45-second constant-movement drills to simulate long rallies. 
 
The team split into position groups and trained on two courts in the final stretch of the morning session. UTRGV's middles worked on blocking techniques, the setters focused on accuracy and started building chemistry with the hitters, and serve-receive/defense continued to be a key point of emphasis. 
 
"The girls have been in the gym for a month now working really hard, and I think they're just hungry for direction and really getting focused in," Lowery said. "There's always that question of, 'Are we going to structure practice because we're not in shape, or are we going to structure practice to really focus and get better?' It's always nice when you can come in and just focus on getting better and that's where we're at." 
 
Sophomore setter Luanna Emiliano said knowing the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held at the UTRGV Fieldhouse was one of the motivating factors to the positive start. With a good core returning and six exciting newcomers, Emiliano sees good things on the horizon for the Vaqueros.
 
"We have everything that we need for it to be a great season. Everyone is working hard and really excited," Emiliano said. "Last season was good, but I think everybody that played last season has the same feeling that we can do more. It feels like it's our time." 
 
UTRGV will play a closed exhibition match against Texas A&M International on Aug. 20 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse before heading to the North Texas Invite to play three matches from Aug. 26-27. The first home contest will be the South Texas Showdown against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Aug. 30 at 6:30 p.m. 
 
Lowery said the team's culture and mentality are in a good place as they get the ball rolling. He's excited about the depth and talent on the roster and also believes that big things are within reach. 
 
"I'm super excited for this year. I don't think our team has been in this good a shape as far as having all the pieces, having depth and having a lot of talent," Lowery said. "The competition is going to be fierce among everybody for playing time, so we want the girls to support each other through the process. We're only as good as that next person in line, and as long as that next person in line keeps challenging, then we're going to continue to get better."  

Support UTRGV Volleyball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube