CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 0-3 (15-25, 23-25, 17-25) in the opening match of the Comfort Suites Islanders Classic on Friday at Dugan Wellness Center.
 
Sophomore Bojana Mitrovic led the Vaqueros (4-4) with 13 kills. Junior Alisha Watson had eight kills. Sophomore Tina Sekulic had 26 assists and seven digs.
 
Morgan Carlson led the Islanders (5-3) with 10 kills and two blocks. Kelsee Felux had nine kills. Ivy Baresh had eight kills with six digs. Brittany Gilpin had eight kills with two aces. Kristyn Nicholson had 38 assists with three aces, eight digs and three blocks. Kate Klepetka had a match-high 32 digs.
 
The Islanders took control early in the first set. It was tied at 3 when Nicholson came up with a kill to kick off a 5-0 run. Junior Fatoumata Dacosta, sophomore Briana Shannon and Mitrovic responded with kills to power a 4-0 run and make it a 7-8 set. It was still a one-point set at 9-10 after a kill by freshman Alexandra Ecker, but Madeleine Doud had two kills to spark a 7-1 run as the Islanders pulled away.
 
The Vaqueros led for most of the second set, using five quick kills by Mitrovic to go up 6-4. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 13-8 on an attack error by Carlson, and still led 14-9 on a kill by senior Haley Durham, but the Islanders scored four-straight points to pull within one. Durham had a kill and an ace as the Vaqueros scored three-straight to make it a four-point set again, by Baresh had two kills as the Islanders responded with three in a row to again pull within one. The Islanders took a 19-18 lead on an ace by Gilpin, but the Vaqueros tied it on a kill by Watson. The Vaqueros led 22-19 on a Dacosta kill, but the Islanders scored six of the final seven points to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Islanders jumped out to leads of 5-0, 11-3 and 16-5 in the final set to complete the sweep.
 
The Vaqueros close out the tournament with two matches on Saturday, first at 11 a.m. against Texas Southern, and then at 6 p.m. against the Islanders.

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