NEW ORLEANS – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team closed out the New Orleans Invitational with a 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21) victory over New Orleans on Friday at New Orleans' Human Performance Center.
 
Saturday's action at the New Orleans Invitational has been canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Ida.
 
Sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi led the Vaqueros (2-0) with a career-high 12 kills on .379 hitting, 13 digs and career-high tying two blocks for her first-career double-double. Junior Sarah Cruz recorded 11 kills with six digs and five blocks. Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos finished with 10 kills on an error-free .625 hitting, four aces and three blocks. Senior Veronika Jandova recorded a career-high tying 11 blocks, tied for the third-highest single-match total in program history. Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted a double-double with 39 assists, 17 digs, five kills on .625 hitting and two blocks. 
 
Trinity Jackson led Privateers (0-2) with 14 kills and seven digs. Rita Zecchin finished with 12 kills and 19 digs.
 
The Vaqueros trailed 7-8 in the first set when a Jandova kill sparked a 4-0 run to give the Vaqueros the lead. Then, with the lead cut to 12-11, the Vaqueros went on a 7-1 run, capped by a Charitonidi kill, to take a 19-12 lead and push the set out of reach.
 
In the third set, neither team put together more than two-straight points until the Privateers scored three in a row to tie the set at 17. The Vaqueros won three of the next four serves to take a 20-18 lead, but the Privateers responded with a 3-1 run of their own to tie the set at 21. Four serves later, with the score tied at 23, an error gave the Vaqueros set point and then a block by Emiliano, Jandova and da Silva ended the set.
 
The Privateers jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the fourth set. Back-to-back kills by Charitonidi sparked an 11-3 run to give the Vaqueros a 14-9 lead. The Vaqueros pushed their lead to 18-12 on another Charitonidi kill. The Privateers got as close as three twice, including at 21-24 before a Charitonidi kill ended the match.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Thursday at TCU's Cowtown Classic, starting with a 3 p.m. matchup against UMBC.

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