OREM, Utah – In a clash of two teams locked atop the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) standings, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team beat the Utah Valley University Wolverines 3-1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19) on Saturday at Lockhart Arena.
UTRGV (22-5, 11-1 WAC) is now in sole possession of first place, one match ahead of Utah Valley (16-8, 10-2 WAC) and two ahead of Stephen F. Austin (9-3 WAC), which was swept at UT Arlington on Saturday.
The Vaqueros will have an opportunity to clinch a share of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Championship and the number one seed in the WAC Tournament on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. when they host Abilene Christian at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. If the Vaqueros win, they will be assured of the number one seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker with Utah Valley when UTRGV hosts the WAC Tournament Nov. 17-19 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Tickets for the Abilene Christian match, which is also senior night, and the WAC Tournament can be purchased at
UTRGVTickets.com. Current UTRGV students 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.
UTRGV is now one of only seven 22-win teams in the NCAA, along with South Dakota (24-2), Western Kentucky (24-2), Towson (23-1), Houston (23-2), Pittsburgh (23-2), and Wright State (24-3).
The Vaqueros are tied for the winningest season in program history with the 2018 WAC Championship team that finished 22-9. The Vaqueros are off to their best 12-match conference start in program history, two matches ahead of the 2018 and 2017 teams that were 9-3.
With the win, the Vaqueros break the program records for road wins (10) and conference road wins (seven), finishing undefeated on the road in conference play for the first time. The previous records were nine total road wins and six WAC road wins in 2018.
Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos led the Vaqueros with 10 kills on an error-free .556 hitting, a career-high six aces and seven blocks. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano posted her 18
th double-double with 45 assists,15 digs, a career-high six aces and three blocks. Graduate student
Sarah Cruz recorded a match-high 15 kills with nine digs and four blocks. Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu posted 12 kills on .435 hitting. Sophomore
Margherita Giani recorded six kills with seven blocks and one ace. Sophomore
Perris Key had six kills and five blocks. Junior
Regina Tijerina finished with 13 digs.
The Vaqueros served up a season-high 14 aces, the program's highest total since Sept. 14, 2012, when the team served 14 aces against Texas Southern.
Tori Dorius led the Wolverines with 14 kills and three blocks.
Avery Shewell recorded 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks.
Kills by Cruz and Key helped the Vaqueros jump out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. The Wolverines scored the next six points to go up 8-5. Then, with the Wolverines up 10-7, the Vaqueros went on a 5-1 run, capped by an ace by junior
Ioanna Charitonidi, to go up 12-11. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 15-13 before the Wolverines used a 6-0 run to take a 19-15 lead. The Wolverines still led by four at 22-18 when a Key kill and back-to-back Santos kills sparked a 7-1 run to give the Vaqueros the first set victory.
The first set was tied early until back-to-back Cruz kills and an Emiliano ace put the Vaqueros up 10-6. The Wolverines pulled to within 12-14 before Santos came up with a kill and three-straight aces to give the Vaqueros an 18-12 lead. The Wolverines followed with a 6-1 run to pull within 18-19. Cruz and Lupescu pushed back with kills to make the score 21-18. Then, with the score 22-19, the Wolverines won three-straight serves to tie the set. Santos answered with a kill. The Wolverines scored the next two points to reach set point. A Lupescu kill tied the set at 24 before the Wolverines won the next two points to tie the match at 1.
The lead fluctuated back and forth in the third set, with the Wolverines going up 12-11. A Lupescu kill sparked a 3-0 run to put the Vaqueros on top 14-12. Then, with the score 16-15, the Vaqueros went on a 9-1 run, powered by two Santos aces and two Emiliano aces, to win the set.
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set on a Key kill. Later, with the score 6-4, Cruz came up with back-to-back kills and a block to put the Vaqueros up 9-4. Then, with the score 10-5, the Wolverines went on an 8-2 run to take a 13-12 lead. That's when the Vaqueros' block took over, as Key and Giani combined for three blocks to power a 5-0 run that gave the Vaqueros a 17-13 lead. The Wolverines won the next two serves before Lupescu posted three-straight kills to make the score 20-15. The Wolverines scored the next three points before a Lupescu kill sparked a 3-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 23-18. One serve later, an error gave the Vaqueros match point and then another error ended the match.
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