FORT WORTH – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team defended on match point seven times in the third set and then dominated the fourth set before ultimately falling to the UMBC Retrievers 2-3 (18-25, 23-25, 28-26, 25-14, 11-15) at TCU's Cowtown Classic on Thursday at Schollmaier Arena.
 
UTRGV faces host TCU at 7 p.m.
 
Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos led the Vaqueros (2-1) with 15 kills, three assists, four digs, one ace and four blocks. Junior Sarah Cruz finished with 11 kills, five digs and three blocks. Senior Veronika Jandova recorded nine kills on .312 hitting with five blocks. Sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi posted nine kills, 13 digs, two aces and two blocks. Junior Yasmim da Silva finished with seven kills. Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted her third-straight double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs.
 
Mia Biulusic led the Retrievers (1-4) with 18 kills and 13 digs. Mila Ilieva recorded 10 kills and four blocks. Emily Ferketic finished with eight kills and five blocks.
 
After dropping the first two sets, the Vaqueros trailed 19-24 in the third set when the comeback began. After an error, Charitonidi served up an ace and the Santos and Emiliano combined with a block. Cruz followed with back-to-back kills to tie the set. Cruz retied the set at both 25 and 26. Then, after a Retrievers error, freshman Perris Key came up with a kill to end the set.
 
The Vaqueros carried that momentum over into the fourth set, jumping out to an 8-2 lead on a Santos ace. Then, with the score 9-5, the Vaqueros scored seven-straight points, capped by a Key ace, to go up 16-5 and run away with the set. The Vaqueros hit .375 (11-2-24) while holding the Retrievers to -.037 (8-9-27) hitting in the set.
 
The Vaqueros opened the fifth set with a Charitonidi kill before the Retrievers scored four-straight points to take the lead. After a UTRGV timeout, Charitonidi came up with another kill as the Vaqueros won three of the next four serves to pull within one. The two teams traded points for a few serves, with the Vaqueros making the score 7-8 on a da Silva kill. The Retrievers, however, won the next three serves as part of a 6-1 run to go up 14-8. Cruz followed with a kill and then combined on a block with Santos before a Key kill made the score 11-14. Biulusic answered with a kill to end the match.
 
In total, the Vaqueros defended on match point 10 times.
 
The Vaqueros led early in the first set, going up 4-3 on a Charitonidi kill. The score was tied at 6 on another Charitonidi kill before the Retrievers won three-straight serves to take the lead. The Vaqueros pulled to within one twice, including at 10-11 on an error, but the Retrievers responded with six-straight points as part of an 11-1 run to push the set out of reach.
 
The Retrievers jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the second set before a kill by freshman Ada Bulgur sparked a 4-0 run to put the Vaqueros on top. The set stayed tight throughout, with the Vaqueros leading twice more, including at 9-8 on a Santos kill. Then, after a Charitonidi kill tied the set at 12, the two teams traded 4-0 runs, with a Santos kill tying the set at 16. The Retrievers then scored the next five points. The Vaqueros got as close as one at 23-24 before a kill by Beste Ayhan ended the set.

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