SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball took down a Big 10 opponent for the first time in program history, knocking off Maryland 3-2 (17-25, 25-18, 17-25, 25-22, 15-12) to open up the UTSA Classic on Friday at the Convocation Center.
 
This is the second year in a row in which UTRGV (4-1) has upset a Power 5 opponent after taking down No. 15 Baylor 3-2 in Waco last season.
 
This was UTRGV's fourth-match all-time against a Big 10 opponent, after previously getting swept by Ohio State (8/25/17), Rutgers (8/27/11) and Iowa (9/9/05) at neutral sites.
 
Senior Barbara Silva led UTRGV with 19 kills on .341 hitting. Sophomore Sarah Cruz posted her third double-double with 16 kills, 11 digs and three aces. Junior Samaret Caraballo posted a match-high 24 digs with five assists.
 
Rebekah Rath led Maryland (3-1) with 13 kills with six digs. Erika Pritchard recorded 11 kills and 15 digs.
 
UTRGV trailed early in the second set, going down 2-5. Kills by Cruz, junior Veronika Jandova and freshman Ioanna Charitonidi helped UTRGV win five of the next seven serves to tie the match at 7. Then, with UTRGV down 9-10, Silva came up with two kills to spark a 5-0 run to give UTRGV its first lead. UTRGV pushed its lead to 16-11 on a Silva kill and 20-13 on an error. Maryland got as close as four at 16-20 before a pair of Cruz kills helped UTRGV to put the set away.
 
UTRGV led early in the fourth set, going up 11-7 on Jandova ace. Maryland responded with a 13-6 run to go up 20-17. After a UTRGV timeout, Jandova and junior Debora Nazario combined for two blocks while Jandova added a kill and an ace to help UTRGV score six of the next seven points to go up 23-21. One point later, Cruz and Silva came up with kills to end the set.
 
UTRGV trailed 4-7 out of the gate in the fifth set before kills by Silva and Caraballo helped UTRGV to win four-straight serves and take the lead. UTRGV went down 8-9 before a Jandova kill and an error allowed UTRGV to take the lead. UTRGV again led at 11-10 on a Cruz kill and 13-12 on an error. Then, after another error, a Silva kill ended the match.
 
UTRGV faces off against host UTSA on Saturday at 10 a.m. before wrapping up the tournament against Houston at 5 p.m. Houston beat UTSA 3-1 on Friday.

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