BEAUMONT – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team took over sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference Southwest Division by beating the Seattle U Redhawks 3-1 (28-26, 13-25, 25-18, 25-20) on Friday at Lamar's McDonald Gym.
 
The Vaqueros (13-6, 5-1 WAC) are now on a five-match winning streak and one game ahead of Sam Houston (4-2 WAC) and Stephen F. Austin (4-2), both of which play later Friday night, in the Southwest.
 
Senior Veronika Jandova led the Vaqueros with 15 kills on .500 hitting and four blocks. Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded 14 kills on .385 hitting with three blocks. Junior Sarah Cruz recorded nine kills and nine digs. Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted her 15^th double-double with 40 assists, 14 digs and four aces.
 
Sierra Bartley led the Redhawks (3-16, 0-8 WAC) with 16 kills and five blocks. Sofia Sanchez finished with 16 kills and seven digs.
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set. The Vaqueros chipped away and then, with the score 11-14, back-to-back kills by sophomore Maria Eduarda Rodrigues sparked a 7-0 run to give the Vaqueros an 18-14 lead. The Vaqueros led 21-19 when the Redhawks went on a 5-0 run to reach set point. After a timeout, the Vaqueros scored four-straight points, including an Emiliano ace to make the score 25-24. Two serves later, the Redhawks had set point again when a Cruz kill and a pair of attack errors gave the Vaqueros the set.
 
After the Vaqueros dropped the second set and gave up the first point of the third set, Santos came up with four-straight kills and five in a span of six serves to give the Vaqueros a 5-2 lead. The Redhawks responded with a 7-2 run to take a 9-7 lead. The Redhawks led by as much as three at 15-12 before the Vaqueros went on a 7-0 run, capped by a Santos ace, to go up 19-15. Then, with the scored 20-18, a kill by sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi sparked a 5-0 run to end the set.
 
Emiliano started the fourth set with an ace and then the Vaqueros went up 6-2 on a Cruz ace. The Redhawks won the next four serves and the set stayed tight until, with the score 11-8, the Vaqueros went on a 4-1 run go up 15-9. Then, with the score 16-11, the Vaqueros went on a 6-0 run to double up the Redhawks at 22-11. The Redhawks followed with an 8-1 run to pull within 19-23 before a Jandova kill brought the Vaqueros to match point. One serve later, the Vaqueros won on an error.
 
UTRGV concludes interdivision play on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Chicago State.

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