RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the defending WAC Champion New Mexico State University Aggies 0-3 (19-25, 14-25, 20-25) on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Junior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (0-6, 0-4 WAC) with eight kills, three assists and six digs. Senior Veronika Jandova recorded seven kills with two blocks.  Sophomore Victoire Nama finished with six kills. Graduate student Mackenzie Coates dished out 22 assists. Senior Samaret Caraballo posted 12 digs.
 
Savannah Davison led the Aggies (4-0, 4-0 WAC) with 11 kills on .429 hitting, eight digs and two blocks. Victoria Barrett posted 11 kills on .381 hitting.
 
The Aggies jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first set before the Vaqueros went on a 10-3 run, capped by a kill by senior Debora Nazario, to take a 13-9 lead. The Aggies answered with a 12-2 run to go up 21-15 and pull away to win the set.
 
The Aggies won the first three points of the second set, but the Vaqueros scored five of the next seven points to tie the set at 5. One serve later, a Nama kill tied the set at 6 before an 8-2 run put the Aggies up 14-8. Then, with the score 11-16 after a kill by freshman Ada Bulgur, the Aggies went on a 6-1 run to push the set out of reach.
 
The third set was tied at 6 on a Nama kill when the Aggies won five-straight serves as part of a 7-1 run to go up 13-7. Then, with the score 8-14, a Cruz kill sparked a 6-2 run to bring the Vaqueros to within 14-16. The Vaqueros were again within two at 17-19 on a Jandova kill and 19-21 on a Cruz block, but that's as close as they got.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. UTRGV Athletics is capping capacity at the UTRGV Fieldhouse at 231 fans. Single-match tickets can be purchased online at UTRGVTickets.com. Tickets f must be purchased by 12 p.m. on match day. Doors open at 5 p.m. For more information about match day, visit GoUTRGV.com/game-day.
 
Fans can also watch for free online at WACDigitalNetwork.com.

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