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HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team opened the 2018 season with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-22) victory over Louisiana Tech on Friday at the HBU Classic at Sharp Gym.
 
Senior Antonela Jularic led UTRGV (1-0) with eight kills on .467 hitting and six digs. Junior Barbara Silva recorded eight kills with a career-high four aces. Junior McAllen Memorial alum Draik Banks recorded seven kills on .600 hitting with a match-high four blocks. Sophomore Debora Nazario dished out a match-high 32 assists while senior Gysell Zayas recorded a match-high 16 digs.
 
Lara Hendricks led Louisiana Tech (0-1) with nine kills.
 
UTRGV out-hit Louisiana Tech .305 (37-12-82) to .044 (27-23-91).
 
Three of Silva's aces came in the first set, as she won 12 of her 13 serves. She won six-straight serves, including one ace, to help UTRGV turn a 1-1 score into a 7-1 score. Then, with UTRGV up 19-9, Silva won the final six serves of the set, including two aces.
 
UTRGV never trailed in the second set, taking its largest lead at 13-7 on a Silva kill. Louisiana Tech won six of the next eight serves to pull within two, but a kill and an ace by sophomore Los Fresnos alum Jackie Kingsbury sparked UTRGV to score five of the next seven points and push the set out of reach.
 
Louisiana Tech took its first lead of the match in the third set, going up 15-12 on a Hendricks kill. Jularic responded with a kill to help UTRGV score the next six points and take the lead. Louisiana Tech came back to take a 22-21 lead on a Mia Postran ace. But UTRGV took advantage of four-straight attack errors to complete the sweep.
 
UTRGV faces Prairie View A&M at 3:30 p.m.

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