EDINBURG — Luanna Emiliano is not a magician. She just plays one on the UTRGV volleyball court.
The 5-foot-7 sophomore from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was “doing her thing” once again Saturday with her bag of tricks, setting balls to perfection from all over the court, sacrificing her body to keep a rally going, and even using her cunning sleight of hand to keep blockers and defenders off balance. Along the way, she also collected her 2,000th career assist as the Vaqueros bounced back from a Thursday loss to dominate UT Arlington 25-8, 26-24, 25-17 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The win keeps UTRGV atop the Western Athletic Conference, tied with Utah Valley with 9-1 conference records. The Vaqueros improved to 20-5 overall while UTA fell to 7-4 in the conference and 15-8 overall.
The Vaqueros played what head coach Todd Lowery called the most complete game in a while, especially coming off a poor performance in a four-set loss to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday that dropped UTRGV into that first-place tie.
“They handled it, to be honest with you, completely how I expected them to,” Lowery said about bouncing back from Thursday’s match. “The girls came in yesterday morning and there was a little bit of a long face, but it wasn’t a ‘poor me long face’ it was a ‘yeah, we did this to ourselves’ kind of face and what are we going to do about it.”
UTRGV has four conference matches left, including what could be the battle for the WAC championship at 2 p.m. Nov. 5 at Utah Valley.
Emiliano again was the engine that ran the Vaqueros’ motor, leading the team with 36 assists and tying for the team lead in digs (9) and block assists (2), also adding one kill.
Her 2,000th assist came early in the first set. Facing the net, she jumped — giving the illusion that she was going to attack. The blockers bit and Emiliano deftly set a quick ball to middle hitter Luisa Silva do Santos, who delivered a definitive kill.
Emiliano has 2,032 career assists. The all-time leader is Chelsea Blakely with 3,905, who played from 2005-08.
“I don’t think about the numbers. They’re just numbers,” Emiliano said. “I want to give them all a good ball and try to feel the moment and give the perfect ball. I feel so good here at home, We played hard and took care of the easy stuff.”
Sarah Cruz benefited the most from Emiliano’s silky touch with a match-high 14 kills. Perris Key added 10 and Claudia Lupescu contributed nine. The Vaqueros racked up 50 kills and UTA tallied 29.
“She’s just amazing,” Key said. “I always know they are going to be where they need to be. I have a lot of trust in her to run the offense. She gets to everything. Even in practice, some of the balls she gets I’m, like, ‘What in the world?’”
“And if they don’t go, I get mad,” Emiliano joked.
During Thursday’s match, the SFA radio broadcaster often marveled and commented on Emiliano’s performance. Lowery said that’s a common reaction from a lot of people.
“The thing about Luanna is that people who don’t see us often don’t understand how special she is,” Lowery said. “To have 2,000 assists already just halfway through her sophomore year is a phenomenal number.
“She’s grown a lot since last year, not so much physically or more capable, but just by becoming comfortable here in the U.S. You watch her play and it’s easy to forget she showed up here as an 18-year-old, fresh out of high school because of the way she carries herself and the way she commands the court.”
UTRGV plays Thursday at Seattle before the showdown Saturday at Utah Valley. The Vaqueros return home for their final two regular-season matches at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 10 against Abilene Christian and 2 p.m., Nov. 12 against Tarleton.
The Vaqueros then host the WAC Tournament from Nov. 17-19 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.