{"id":7530,"date":"2024-11-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/?p=7530"},"modified":"2024-12-10T16:28:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T22:28:18","slug":"volleyball-team-hits-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/18\/volleyball-team-hits-the-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Volleyball Team Hits the Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"619\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Leo1118.png\" alt=\"The UTRGV Women\u2019s Volleyball Team practices at the fieldhouse for their upcoming tournament.\nLeonardo Guajardo\/Vaquero Radio\" class=\"wp-image-7531\" style=\"width:740px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Leo1118.png 619w, https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Leo1118-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 619px) 100vw, 619px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The UTRGV Women\u2019s Volleyball Team practices at the fieldhouse for their upcoming tournament.<br><\/em><strong>Leonardo Guajardo\/Vaquero Radio<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Leo-1118.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Following the final conference game, the UTRGV Women&#8217;s Volleyball Team is determined to make its mark on the court as they prepare to compete in their next tournament.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of Friday, the Vaqueros hold a 15-10 overall score and a 11-4 conference score.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vaqueros faced Incarnate Word on Thursday at home. The team then faced Houston Christian University on Saturday. Results will be available at goutrgv.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior right side Perris Key commented on her growth from starting as a freshman to becoming the team\u2019s leader. Her dedication to guiding new athletes and motivation to succeed drives her to continue to bring her all to every match.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cI think my leadership skills have grown a lot,\u201d Key said. \u201cOver the years I&#8217;ve learned from other people, and then also just having to step up into that role has grown me into a better person. Just making sure that they know what they&#8217;re doing, making sure we&#8217;re on time as a team, and we&#8217;re calm and relaxed when we\u2019re playing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>She also spoke about the importance of proper communication amongst the team to maintain composure during games.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cI think we try hard as a team to make sure we&#8217;re speaking to each other in a respectful manner, regardless of what&#8217;s going on,\u201d Key said. \u201cWe&#8217;ve had talks about that as a team and with coach just controlling what we can control.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior outside hitter Ilana De Assis, originally from Spain, transferred in her junior year from Missouri State University-West Plains to UTRGV. She said her motivation is rooted in being far from home, driving her to work harder to make those who support her proud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cMy motivation is [that] I&#8217;m so far from home, so now I have to work hard to get better,\u201d De Assis said. \u201cI&#8217;m out of my house since I am 15 years old, so it&#8217;s always a motivation. I&#8217;m trying to get happiness to my parents too.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>She described the cultural and gameplay changes she faced when coming from Spain and the impact it has on her in the court.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cEverything changed,\u201d De Assis said. \u201cThe tempo of the ball, playing with America&#8217;s mind. I have to take care with what I&#8217;m going to say because I can mess up the whole team because I think they take [it] more personal than a Brazilian. I&#8217;m going to scream at you, next point is next point.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Head coach Todd Lowery highlighted the crucial roles Key and De Assis played in maintaining team spirit through leadership and adaptability.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201c[They\u2019re] obviously big leaders on the court and off the court,\u201d Lowery said. \u201cPerris has been a captain for us for a couple of years and sets the tone of the team. I think Ilana has had a phenomenal season playing in a new position. Just two tough kids that are coming and bringing it every single day and giving us everything they have as we close out the season.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He said the team\u2019s biggest strength competing is their commitment to focusing on areas of improvement rather than sticking to strengths.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>\u201cOur offense is really good,\u201d Lowery said. \u201cWhen we pass the ball well, we&#8217;ve proven that we&#8217;re pretty much really hard to stop within the conference. They know the balls that they don&#8217;t hit well. They know the things that they don&#8217;t do well and [they] come in and put more time into those things that we don&#8217;t do well instead of just doing the same things that we already know\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vaqueros are traveling out to play in the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday, Nov. 22 in Hammond, Louisiana.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the final conference game, the UTRGV Women&#8217;s Volleyball Team is determined to make its mark on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":7531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-volleyball"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - 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