SEATTLE – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team beat a relentless Seattle U Redhawks squad 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22) on Thursday at the Redhawk Center.
The Vaqueros (21-5, 10-1 WAC) are now one of 10 21-win teams in the NCAA, along with Western Kentucky (23-2), Towson (22-1), Houston (22-2), Pittsburgh (22-2), South Dakota (23-2), Wright State (22-3), San Diego (21-1), Stephen F. Austin (21-3) and UNLV (21-3).
The Vaqueros are now tied for the second-winningest season in program history with the 2016 NCAA Tournament team (21), ranking behind only the 2018 WAC Championship team (22).
The Vaqueros are off to the best 26-match start in NCAA Division I program history, three matches ahead of the 2018 team (18-8), and the best 11-match conference start in program history, two matches ahead of the 2018 and 2017 teams (8-3).
The Vaqueros are 9-2 on the road, tying the program record for road wins set in 2018 (9-3) and one match ahead of the 2018 team's 11-road match pace of 8-3. The Vaqueros are 6-0 in WAC road matches, tying the program record for WAC road wins set in 2018 (6-2).
Graduate student
Sarah Cruz led all players with 26 kills on .373 hitting and notched 17 digs. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded 10 kills on .438 hitting and tallied three blocks. Sophomore
Perris Key added nine kills, sophomore
Margherita Giani contributed eight and sophomore
Claudia Lupescu posted seven. Redshirt junior
Regina Tijerina tallied a match-high 21 digs.
Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano dished out 51 assists to up her career total to 2,083, passing
Marie Velasquez (2,034, 1993-96) for third in program history. Next on the list is
Dubravka Vukoja (2,961, 2015-18).
Shanice Horn and
Arianna Bilby led the Redhawks (4-15, 0-11 WAC) with 18 and 16 kills, respectively. Bilby and
Erin Goya recorded 14 digs.
Amaris Carter, Lauren McCabe and
Marley Hardgrave aided a nine-block match for Seattle U.
Seattle U came out chasing an upset and claimed a 25-20 Set 1 win. After the Redhawks went up 8-5 early, back-to-back aces from Tijerina gave the Vaqueros a 10-9 lead. A Santos block sparked a 3-0 run to extend the advantage, but SU fought back. UTRGV went on a 5-0 run started by a Cruz kill and aided by GIANI
notching a kill and block, but again SU responded. The Redhawks used a nine-point run to put the set out of reach.
The momentum kept rolling for SU as it took a 9-5 lead in the second. Good defense by Tijerina, who moved from defensive specialist to libero after the first set, played a key role in a 4-0 UTRGV run and a 14-13 lead. Key and Santos were big down the stretch to extend the advantage, then a Key kill secured a 25-21 set victory to tie the match. After the Vaqueros hit .033 in the first set with only Cruz recording more than one kill, Emiliano got the rest of the offensive pieces involved in the second and UTRGV hit .375 in the set.
Lupescu was strong to start the third set to help UTRGV set the tone for the frame. The Vaqueros looked in complete control, with Emiliano spreading the ball around to keep the Redhawks on their heels. UTRGV led by as many as eight points. Santos and Giani were strong to put UTRGV in position for Key to notch another set-winning kill, finishing it at 25-18.
Cruz was dominant to put UTRGV on top 15-11 in the fourth, but again, the pesky Redhawks battled back. They responded from three-straight attack errors to go on two big scoring runs late in the match, cutting UTRGV's lead down to 23-21 after trailing 23-16. Key tooked a kill off the block to end the run, then Emiliano dunked over a second-touch kill to secure the victory.
UTRGV is back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Utah Valley. Fans can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally on
WAC International.
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