BEAUMONT – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the host Lamar Cardinals 1-3 (25-20, 12-25, 24-26, 23-25) to open up the Cardinal Classic on Friday at McDonald Gym.
 
Junior Alisha Watson led the Vaqueros (5-6) with a career-high 18 kills on .382 hitting. Sophomore Bojana Mitrovic had 14 kills with 10 digs for her third double-double. Sophomore Tina Sekulic recorded 39 assists and 12 digs for her fourth double-double
 
Tomar Thomas led four Cardinals (8-4) in double-figures kills with 14 on .333 hitting. Chelsea Grant, Cortney Moore and Autumn Taylor all finished with 10 kills. Grant also had a match-high seven blocks. Haley Morton recorded 26 assists and 13 digs while Lauren Stahlman had 31 digs.
 
The Vaqueros and Cardinals traded the first six points of the match, but Mitrovic came up with three kills over the next four points to give the Vaqueros a 7-3 lead. Mitrovic ended up with five kills while Watson added three to power a 10-4 run that saw the Vaqueros go up 13-7. The Vaqueros pushed their lead to eight for the first time at 16-8 on a kill by freshman Alexandra Ecker and never led by less than six until the final moments of the set, when, up 24-14, the Cardinals scored six-straight points before Sekulic ended the set with a kill.
 
The Cardinals' hot play carried over into the second set, when, after a Watson kill, the Cardinals scored five-straight points while jumping to a 10-3 lead. The Vaqueros pulled within 7-12 on a service error, but a Grant kill sparked a 4-0 run as the Cardinals pulled away and tied the match at 1.
 
The Cardinals led 3-1 out of the gate in the third set, but a kill by freshman Fatoumata Dacosta and an attack error allowed the Vaqueros to tie it. The Vaqueros took their first lead at 6-5 on an attack error and extended that lead to two at 8-6 on a Watson kill. The Vaqueros led by as many as four at 15-11 after a kill by senior Haley Durham, but the Cardinals scored the next four points to tie the set. The Vaqueros led 23-20 after a Watson kill, but Moore and Thomas bookended a 4-0 run with kills to get to set point. Mitrovic tied the set with a kill of her own, but after an attack error, Grant used a kill to end the set.
 
In the fourth set, the Vaqueros jumped out to leads of 7-3 and 10-5 on Watson kills. After the Cardinals scored three-straight points, Watson pushed the lead back out to four with another kill. The Vaqueros still led 17-15 after a Mitrovic kill, but after a block by Grant and Nicole Parish, Taylor had a kill and Grant came up with two more to put the Cardinals up 19-17. The Vaqueros tied the set at 20 on a Watson ace, but after an error, Moore came up with a block and the Cardinals led the rest of the way.
 
The Vaqueros are back in action on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Tulane before concluding the tournament at 3 against Jackson State.

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