CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team swept the Chicago State University Cougars 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-23) on Thursday at the Jacoby Dickens Center.
 
Sophomore Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (10-11, 4-3 WAC) with 10 kills, eight digs and four blocks. Freshman Victoire Nama also had 10 kills. Senior Barbara Silva posted eight kills on .700 hitting. Junior Debora Nazario posted her ninth double-double with 33 assists, 10 digs and four blocks.
 
Josi Borum led the Cougars (4-17, 0-7 WAC) with 10 kills, 12 assists and six digs.
 
The first set was tight early, but with the Vaqueros up 11-10, kills by junior Veronika Jandova and Nama sparked a 9-1 run to make the score 20-11. The Cougars responded by winning the next seven serves to get close before the Vaqueros took advantage of a Nama kill and four errors to win the set.
 
The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set before back-to-back Silva kills kicked off a 16-2 run to put the Vaqueros up 16-4. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 20-7 on a Nama kill and 24-11 on an ace by junior Samaret Caraballo en route to taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Cougars led early in the third set, going up 8-5. Nama responded with a kill and then Silva followed with two kills as the Vaqueros went on a 6-1 run to take the lead. Then, with the score tied at 12, the Vaqueros went on an 8-2 run to take the lead for good.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Kansas City.

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