RIO GRANDE VALLEY – Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano dished out the 2,000
th assist of her career as The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team beat the UT Arlington Mavericks 3-0 (25-8, 26-24, 25-17) on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Emiliano finished with 36 assists to up her career total to 2,032, passing
Nycole Masaki (2,028, 2012-13) for fourth in program history. Next on the list is
Marie Velasquez (2,034, 1993-96).
The Vaqueros (20-5, 9-1 WAC) are now one of 12 20-win teams in the NCAA, along with Western Kentucky (22-2), Towson (21-1), Pittsburgh (21-2), South Dakota (21-2), Stephen F. Austin (21-3), San Diego (20-1), Houston (20-2), Louisville (20-2), Marquette (20-2), Wright State (20-3), and Southeastern Louisiana (20-6).
The Vaqueros are now in the midst of the third-winningest season in program history, ranking behind only the 2018 (22) and 2016 (21) teams.
The Vaqueros are off to the best 25-match start in NCAA Division I program history, three matches ahead of the 2018 team (17-8), and the best 10-match conference start in program history, two matches ahead of the 2018 and 2017 team (7-3).
The Vaqueros are 8-1 at home, the second-best nine-match home record in program history, behind only the 2017 team (9-0).
Graduate student
Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros with 14 kills on .310 hitting, six digs and three aces. Sophomore
Perris Key recorded 10 kills on .412 hitting. Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu posted nine kills on .412 hitting. Sophomore
Margherita Giani recorded six kills on an error-free .857 hitting. Junior
Ioanna Charitonidi finished with five kills on an error-free .625 hitting, three digs, two assists and two aces. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded five kills on an error-free .556 hitting with five digs and three blocks.
Brianna Ford led the Mavericks (15-8, 7-4 WAC) with nine kills.
The Vaqueros hit a season-best .435 (50-10-92) while holding the Mavericks to .141 hitting (29-15-99).
The Vaqueros outhit the Mavericks .667 (15-1-21) to -.074 (5-7-27) to run away with the first set. With the set tied at 1, kills by Cruz and Giani helped the Vaqueros go on a 5-0 run. Then, with the score 7-3, the Vaqueros went on an 8-1 run to go up 15-4 on a Cruz kill. The Vaqueros lead ballooned to 19-7 before the Vaqueros went on a 6-1 run, capped by an ace by junior
Regina Tijerina, to end the set.
The Mavericks jumped out to a 5-2 lead in set two. That's when a pair of Lupescu kills powered a 6-1 run to give the Vaqueros an 8-6 lead. The Mavericks won four of the next five serves before two Cruz kills and a Giani kill put the Vaqueros up 12-10. The Mavericks followed with a 5-1 run and still led by two at 18-16. A Key kill sparked a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 21-19. Then, with the set tied at 23, a Cruz kill gave the Vaqueros set point. One serve later, a Key kill gave the Vaqueros set point again before an attack error ended the set.
Down 0-2 to start the third set, three Key kills fueled a 7-2 run to put the Vaqueros up 7-4. Three serves later, a Lupescu kill sparked a 5-1 run to make the score 13-7. The Mavericks got as close as 11-14 when a Charitonidi kill sparked a 6-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 20-11 and push the set out of reach.
UTRGV is back in action on Thursday at 8 p.m. at Seattle U.
Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally on
WAC International.
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