RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Defense. 
 
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros head volleyball coach Todd Lowery said that word more than any other throughout offseason and preseason workouts. 
 
Every practice, every team meeting, every day – it's the No. 1 thing the Vaqueros have focused on in preparation for the 2023 season. 
 
Defense. 
 
"I felt like our offense had to be so good last year and it put a lot of pressure on the hitters. We want to not have our hitters feel that they have to score on the first or second swing all the time. We want to be able to extend rallies. When you play a lot of defense, it takes pressure off everything else," Lowery said. 
 
The 2022 season was one of the best in program history. UTRGV notched the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular season title, its first postseason victory (two, to be exact) with a trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) quarterfinals, and a program record number of wins (27-7). Sarah Cruz, Luanna Emiliano and Lowery earned WAC Player, Setter and Coach of the Year honors, respectively, among a slew of other accolades for the team.  
 
But that season, and the Vaqueros workhorse in Cruz, are gone. Lowery and Co. are looking to build off last year's success and learn from last year's downfalls. 
 
That's why defense has been the focal point since the calendar turned to 2023. The consistent message has already sunk in and the team showed promising improvement and effort during an exhibition match at Texas A&M International the last preseason weekend. 
 
"It was a different feeling as you watch this team start to play defense in our exhibition match and it's just going to continue to get better," Lowery said. "There's still a long way to go, but just comparing how we played defense, last year we felt there were a lot of easy balls, or balls that were mistouched, a lot of stuff that we could make a play on that we just didn't get it done. None of that fell. We dug a lot of balls that were hit well. The outsides took away the easy ball in the middle of the court. It wasn't just individuals that played defense, but the team really played better defense as a system." 
 
Junior Kiaraliz Perez and freshman Isa Bento are two libero/defensive specialist newcomers Lowery has praised for raising the bar defensively for UTRGV. They've been challenging each other, along with graduate student Madi Spencer, and the competition is improving defense and ball control in the back row. Emiliano and junior Perris Key are also contributing to the defensive renaissance. 
 
Emiliano, Key and senior middle blocker Luisa Silva Dos Santos are the team captains this season and have been leading by example on and off the court. With nine newcomers and the largest squad Lowery has had in the gym, that trio has done an admirable job leading by example and keeping everything in line so the Vaqueros can chase their goals of winning the conference championship and reaching the NCAA Tournament. 
 
"They're taking the job of being a captain really serious. They've embraced it and they're paying attention to all the details that will help us be successful at a really high level," Lowery praised. 
 
Emiliano was named the WAC Preseason Setter of the Year and a member of the Preseason All-WAC Team, along with Santos. Emiliano was magnificent in her sophomore campaign, leading the WAC in assists with 1,348 (sixth in the NCAA) and assists per set with 10.78 (21^st in the NCAA) and breaking the single-season program record for assists. Still, Lowery said she looks even better heading into the 2023 season. 
 
Improving the defense and passing is going to allow Santos, Key and other offensive pieces to take the next step in their games. Junior middle blocker Margherita Giani has impressed, and UTRGV boasts a large handful of hitters fighting for spots at the pin positions. With defense leading the way, Lowery expects more production from the middles, which will open things up on the outside and give the Vaqueros more variety in the attack.
 
"Perris has stepped up offensively and it's going to give our offense a different look because she attacks from the right side," Lowery said. "Offensively, we're pretty good in the middle and it's going to create opportunities for the pins to kind of get loose where they played against a double block last year. That goes back to passing. If we can pass really well, then those looks are going to come." 
 
UTRGV opens the season with a tough slate of six-straight road matches, including contests against No. 5 Pitt and No. 17 BYU. But the Vaqueros are focusing on themselves more than their opponents as they make their final tune-ups and figure out a rotation before competition begins. They've bought into the mentality of getting 1% better every day and they'll use the first part of the season to build timing and chemistry to be at their best when WAC play arrives. 
 
"We've had all the preseason challenges that everyone has every year, the bumps and bruises, student-athletes being out for a couple days. What we have to figure out these first four weeks of the season is whose strengths and weaknesses we can put together to give us the best opportunity to win," Lowery said. "If you play really good defense, you're always going to give yourself a shot, especially early on, so that's going to be the goal." 

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