RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The 2022 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Champion The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team tied the single-season program record for conference wins with a 3-2 (20-25, 25-11, 25-17, 17-25, 15-8) victory over the Tarleton Texans on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, allowing the Vaqueros to finish WAC play 13-1.
Already in the midst of the winningest season in program history, this is UTRGV's (24-5, 13-1 WAC) highest-conference winning percentage (.929) and the second time the Vaqueros have won 13 conference matches, after going 13-3 en route to the 2018 WAC Championship.
UTRGV is now one of only nine 24-win teams in the NCAA, along with Western Kentucky (26-2), South Dakota (26-2), Wright State (26-3), Towson (25-1), Pittsburgh (25-2), San Diego (24-1), Houston (24-2), and UNLV (24-3).
Graduate student
Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros with 16 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu recorded 11 kills with two blocks. Sophomore
Margherita Giani posted her first-career double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 10 blocks. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano recorded her 20
th double-double with 44 assists, 13 digs, four kills and two blocks. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos posted seven kills, seven digs and four blocks. Sophomore
Perris Key recorded six kills, four digs and three blocks. Junior
Regina Tijerina finished with 19 digs.
Brenna McDonough and
Megan Haynes led the Texans (12-17, 4-10 WAC) with 14 kills each.
Grayson Schirpik finished with 13 kills.
After dropping set one, Key came up with a pair of early kills in set two to give the Vaqueros a 5-1 lead. The Texans won the next two serves before another Key kill sparked a 17-3 run to put the Vaqueros up 22-6. The Texans scored five of the next six points before a kill by junior
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues and an attack error ended the set.
The Texans scored the first two points of the third set before a Giani kill sparked a 4-0 run to give the Vaqueros the lead. Then, with the score 8-7, a Cruz kill helped the Vaqueros score four-straight points to go up 12-7. The Texans pulled within 10-13 before a pair of Lupescu kills fueled a 5-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 18-10. The Texans got as close as 17-22 before back-to-back Emiliano kills and a Tijerina kill ended the set.
After falling in set four, the Vaqueros hit .476 in set five, starting and ending with Cruz kills. The Vaqueros jumped out to a 6-2 lead. Then, with the score 9-5, the Vaqueros scored four-straight points, capped by back-to-back Cruz kills, to push the match out of reach.
UTRGV hosts the WAC Tournament Nov. 17-19 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, with any UTRGV matches taking place at 7 p.m.
UTRGV, the No. 1 seed, opens the tournament Thursday against No. 8 seed Southern Utah.
Tickets can be purchased at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current students of WAC institutions receive free general admission with their student ID. All fans need to follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at
GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag.
Fans unable to attend either matches in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally on
WAC International.
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