STEPHENVILLE – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team dropped the regular season finale to the Tarleton State University Texans 1-3 (14-25, 27-25, 16-25, 15-25) on Tuesday at Wisdom Gym.
 
UTRGV opens the Western Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed with a matchup against No. 5 Chicago State on Thursday, April 1 at 5 p.m. at Utah Valley. Fans in the United States can watch online via ESPN+. Fans outside the United States can watch online at WACDigitalNetwork.com.
 
In this match, senior Veronika Jandova led the Vaqueros (2-14, 2-12 WAC) with 10 kills and four blocks. Senior Samaret Caraballo recorded nine kills with 18 digs and two blocks. Sophomore Victoire Nama posted eight kills with six digs. Junior Sarah Cruz finished with four kills and four blocks. Freshman Ada Bulgur also had four kills. Senior Debora Nazario dished out 31 assists with five digs.
 
Lauren Kersey led the Texans (13-11, 6-8 WAC) with 16 kills on .500 hitting. Amber Strange also had 16 kills.
 
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 3-1 first set lead thanks in-part to a Cruz block. The Texans scored the next five points, but the Vaqueros used a Bulgur kill to win three-straight serves, tying the set at 6. The Texans won six of the next seven serves. Then, after the Vaqueros pulled to within 9-14 on a Jandova kill, the Texans went on a 7-0 run to push the set out of reach.
 
The Vaqueros trailed 3-6 early in the second set when a Jandova kill sparked an 8-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 11-6. The Texans responded by winning the next four serves to pull to within one, but the Vaqueros scored three of the next four points to go up 14-11 on a Cruz kill. The Texans regained the lead at 18-17 before a Caraballo kill and an error put the Vaqueros back on top. The Vaqueros led 20-19 on a Jandova kill and 21-20 and 22-21 on Nama kills. The Texans reached set points twice, at 24-23 and 25-24. Caraballo answered with a kill. Then, after a Jandova kill, another Caraballo kill ended the set.
 
The third set was tight early, as the two teams were tied at 4 on an error. The Texans scored 13 of the next 18 points to go up 17-9. The Vaqueros responded with a 4-0 run to pull to within 13-17 on a block by Caraballo and Jandova, but that's as close as they got.
 
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set on a Cruz ace. The Vaqueros still led by three at 6-3 on a Jandova kill and 7-4 on a Caraballo kill. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 9-5 before the Texans scored five-straight points as part of a 19-4 run to take a lead that they never relinquished.

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