NEW ORLEANS – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team opened the 2021 season and New Orleans Invitational with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-18) victory over Alcorn State on Friday at New Orleans' Human Performance Center.
 
The Vaqueros (1-0) face the host Privateers (0-1) at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ to close out the tournament.
 
Junior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros with 15 kills on .519 hitting and six digs. Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos finished with eight kills on .615 hitting, five aces and two blocks. Senior Veronika Jandova recorded six kills on .300 hitting with two blocks. Freshman Edinburg North alum Evana Ramos posted a match-high 14 digs with three assists and one ace. Freshman Luanna Emiliano dished out a match-high 24 assists with two aces and 10 digs.
 
Mikenzie Young-Mullins led Alcorn State (0-2) with four kills and 13 digs. Makayla Wardlaw posted a team-high five kills.
 
The Vaqueros scored the first eight points of the match thanks in-part to two Cruz kills and two Emiliano aces. Four serves later, with the score 9-3, the Vaqueros won three-straight serves, including freshman Perris Key's first-career kill and back-to-back Santos aces to take a 12-3 advantage. Then, with the score 15-8, the Vaqueros went on an 8-0 run, capped by a kill by freshman Yasmim Da Silva, to put the set out of reach.
 
In the second set, the Vaqueros jumped out to a 9-3 lead, capped by a 7-0 run that included three Jandova kills, a kill and an ace by Santos and a Cruz kill. Alcorn State responded by winning six-straight serves to tie the set before back-to-back kills by sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi sparked a 16-4 run to end the set.
 
The Vaqueros trailed 6-7 early in the third set. That's when Cruz bookended a 6-0 run with kills to make the score 12-7. Alcorn State scored four of the next five points to pull to within 11-13, before a Cruz ace a da Silva kill and a Silva ace helped the Vaqueros push their lead to 19-12.

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