RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team swept the Incarnate Word Cardinals 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-18) on Friday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Freshman Luanna Emiliano led the Vaqueros (4-3) with her sixth double-double in seven matches, finishing with 33 assists, 13 digs, three aces and three kills on .429 hitting. Junior Sarah Cruz posted her third-straight double-double, recording 14 kills, 10 digs and three blocks. Senior Veronika Jandova recorded 10 kills on .381 hitting. Freshman Perris Key finished with seven kills, seven digs and three blocks. Junior Ioanna Charitonidi posted six kills and 12 digs. Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded six kills and five blocks.
 
Bethany Clapp led the Cardinals (4-4) with nine kills and 12 digs.
 
The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. Cruz followed with a kill to spark a 7-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 9-6. The Cardinals won four of the next five serves to tie the set at 10. Then, with the set tied at 12, a kill and two aces by Emiliano helped to fuel a 9-1 run to push the set out of reach.
 
The Vaqueros led 4-2 in set two before the Cardinals scored three-straight points to take the lead. Jandova followed with kills on three of the next four serves to give the Vaqueros an 8-5 lead. The Cardinals came back to tie the set at 9 before an Emiliano kill sparked a 6-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 15-10. The Cardinals won the first four serves out of the media timeout, but Cruz answered with back-to-back kills to help the Vaqueros go on a 5-1 run and make the score 20-15. The Cardinals won five of the next seven serves, but the Vaqueros scored three of the final four points.
 
The Cardinals started the third set up 4-3. That's when the Vaqueros went on a 7-1 run that included a kill and an ace by Key to go up 10-5. The Cardinals scored the next two points before a Charitonidi kill helped the Vaqueros score three in a row to go up 13-7. The Cardinals got as close as two at 18-20 when a Jandova kill sparked a 5-1 run to end the match.
 
UTRGV continues the UTRGV Tournament on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse against Texas Southern. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at UTRGVTickets.com. Those unable to attend the match in person can watch in the United States on ESPN+ or internationally on the WAC Digital Network.
 
Texas Southern, which fell to Louisiana 1-3 earlier on Friday, plays Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. and then Louisiana faces Incarnate Word at 2 p.m. on the WAC Digital Network.

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