RIO GRANDE VALLEY – At 15-4, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team moved back into a tie for the NCAA lead in wins with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-22) victory over the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Towson (15-0), Jacksonville State (15-1), Stephen F. Austin (15-2), and Western Kentucky (15-2) also have 15 wins, with Jacksonville State set to face Liberty Saturday night.
The Vaqueros remain off to their best start in NCAA Division I program history. The previous best 19-match start was 13-6 in 2018.
The Vaqueros are now 4-0 in Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play for the second time in program history, matching the 2017 team that, like the 2022 team will, hosted the WAC Tournament.
The Vaqueros are now 6-0 at home for the third time in program history, a feat previously accomplished in 2017 and 2016. The success at home has been fueled in part by the fans, including a boisterous group of 718 on Saturday. The Vaqueros have now drawn 5,507 fans through six matches, the seventh-highest single-season total in program history with five regular season matches and up to three WAC Tournament matches remaining.
In this match, sophomore
Claudia Lupescu led the Vaqueros with 12 kills on .625 hitting, 11 digs and four blocks for her third double-double. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded nine kills on .350 hitting with four blocks. Graduate student
Sarah Cruz posted nine kills and five digs. Sophomore
Margherita Giani recorded eight kills and two blocks. Sophomore
Perris Key finished with seven kills. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano dished out 36 assists with 10 digs for her 12
th double-double.
Makenzie Templeton led the Thunderbirds (2-11, 1-3 WAC) with 13 kills and nine digs.
The Thunderbirds had the early first set lead, going up 5-3. That's when a Key kill sparked a 4-0 run to give the Vaqueros a 7-5 lead. Then, with the score 8-6, the Thunderbirds scored three-straight points to go back on top. The Thunderbirds led 12-11 when the Vaqueros went on a 4-1 run, capped by a Santos kill, to go up 15-13. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 19-16 before the Thunderbirds went on a 6-2 run to take the advantage. Lupescu responded with back-to-back kills and a block before a Santos kill ended the set.
Lupescu recorded two blocks, a kill, and an ace to help the Vaqueros race out to a 9-4 lead in the second set. The Vaqueros extended their lead to six at 13-7. Then, after back-to-back Thunderbirds points, Key answered with consecutive kills to make the score 15-9. The Vaqueros went up seven for the first time on a kill and an ace by Santos that made the score 20-13. The Vaqueros won the next serve on an error to go up eight. The Thunderbirds followed with a 4-0 run to pull within 17-21 before two Cruz kills, a Giani kill, and an Emiliano ace powered a 4-1 run to end the set.
A pair of Giani kills helped the Vaqueros jump out to a 5-2 lead in set three. The Thunderbirds came back to tie the set at 10 before the Vaqueros won three of the next four serves on kills by Key, Lupescu and Santos to take a 13-11 lead. The Thunderbirds scored the next three points to take the lead and led as late as 17-16. Cruz answered with a kill to spark a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 21-18. The Thunderbirds followed with a 4-1 run to tie the set at 22 before a Lupescu kill, a block by Emiliano and Santos, and an ace by graduate student
Sydeny Schoen ended the match.
UTRGV is back in action on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Sam Houston. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally on
WAC International.
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