RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team, the top seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Volleyball Tournament, beat the eighth-seeded Southern Utah University Thunderbirds 3-1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-15, 25-12) in the quarterfinals on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of a crowd of 1,139, the 14
th-largest in program history.
UTRGV (25-5) advances to the WAC Tournament Semifinals against fourth-seeded Utah Valley on Friday at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
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.
The 41
st fan in attendance Thursday broke the single-season program attendance record for UTRGV, now at 10,885. The previous record was 9,786, set in 2018.
UTRGV is now one of only eight 25-win teams in the NCAA, along with Towson (27-1), Western Kentucky (26-2), South Dakota (26-3), Wright State (26-3), Houston (25-2), Pittsburgh (25-2), and Drake (25-6).
Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos led the Vaqueros with 12 kills on .407 hitting and four blocks. Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu recorded 11 kills on .333 hitting with seven digs and a career-high tying four blocks. Sophomore
Perris Key posted a career-high 11 kills on .290 hitting with five blocks. Sophomore WAC Setter of the Year
Luanna Emiliano posted her 21
st double-double with 41 assists and 20 digs. Sophomore
Margherita Giani posted eight kills on .412 hitting with six blocks. Graduate student WAC Player of the Year
Sarah Cruz finished with seven kills, 10 digs, three blocks and two aces. Junior
Regina Tijerina recorded 15 digs, five assists and a career-high four aces.
Makenzie Templeton led the Thunderbirds (7-17) with 14 kills and 15 digs.
Raegen Beeson recorded 13 kills with six digs and three blocks.
Macy Short finished with 34 assists and 17 digs.
The Vaqueros scored the first three points of the first set, but the Thunderbirds responded with a 4-0 run to take the lead. Then, with the set tied at 5, Giani and Lupescu came up with kills and Tijerina served up an ace to put the Vaqueros back on top. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 15-10 on a Key kill before the Thunderbirds went on a 5-1 run to pull within 16-15. Lupescu responded with a kill to spark a 9-2 run, though, to end the set.
After dropping the second set, the Vaqueros fell behind 1-3 in set three. That's when Cruz came up with a block and two aces to fuel a 5-0 run to give the Vaqueros a 6-3 lead. Then, after an attack error, a pair of Tijerina aces powered a 6-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 12-4. The Thunderbirds answered with a 6-1 run to pull within three. Two serves later, with the score 14-11, a Santos kill sparked a 3-0 run to extend the Vaqueros' lead to six. Then, with the score 19-14, the Vaqueros went on a 6-1 run, capped by an Emiliano kill, to win the set.
The Thunderbirds scored the first point of the fourth set before the Vaqueros scored six-straight points, capped by a Lupescu kill, to take the lead. The Thunderbirds pulled within 6-10, but that's when a kill by junior
Ioanna Charitonidi kicked off a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 15-7. Three serves later, a Key kill sparked a 7-0 run to push the match out of reach.
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