RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team won an NCAA Division I postseason match for the first time in program history by beating the Houston Christian University Huskies 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-22) in the opening round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) on Friday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Vaqueros (26-6) advance to the second round against South Dakota State, a 3-2 winner over Louisiana earlier in the day, on Saturday a 2 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Tickets 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 the match in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally on
WAC International.
UTRGV is now one of only 20 26-win teams in the NCAA, along with Towson (29-2), Houston (29-3), Marquette (29-3), South Dakota (29-4), Western Kentucky (29-4), Central Florida (28-1), San Diego (28-1), Pittsburgh (28-3), Wright State (28-4), Louisville (27-2), Rice (27-4), Creighton (27-5), Northern Iowa (27-7), Wisconsin (26-3), Nebraska (26-5), Stephen F. Austin (26-5), UNLV (26-5), Drake (26-7), and Florida Gulf Coast (26-7).
Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu led the Vaqueros by posting her fourth double-double of the season with a career-high 20 kills on .288 hitting, 10 digs and a career-high tying four blocks. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded a career-high tying 17 kills on .500 hitting with four blocks and one ace. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano posted her 23
rd double-double with 49 assists, 16 digs, two kills and one block. Sophomore
Margherita Giani recorded eight kills on .438 hitting with four blocks. Sophomore
Perris Key posted six kills, a career-high 16 digs and two blocks. Graduate student
Sarah Cruz recorded six kills and 11 digs. Junior
Regina Tijerina finished with 12 digs and a career-high tying eight assists.
Shelby O'Neal led the Huskies (23-11) with 17 kills and eight digs.
Sara Arroyo recorded 12 kills.
Audrey Pearce posted 11 kills and three blocks.
Anna Gadway recorded 11 kills and two blocks.
Grace McLaughlin dished out 49 assists with 15 digs.
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first set on a Lupescu kill. The Huskies scored the next three points before kills by Cruz and Lupescu restored the Vaqueros' advantage at 6-5. The Huskies won four of the next five serves to take the lead before kills by Santos and Cruz tied the score at 9. The Huskies scored the next four points to take the lead before a 3-0 run brought the Vaqueros within 12-13, but that's as close as they got for the rest of the set.
The Vaqueros trailed for much of the second set, but with the score 15-19, an Emiliano kill sparked a 4-0 run to let the Vaqueros pull even. Then, down 20-21, a Lupescu kill sparked a 3-0 run to give the Vaqueros a 23-21 lead. One serve later, a Santos kill gave the Vaqueros set point. The Huskies won the next two serves before back-to-back Santos kills tied the match at 1.
The Huskies led 9-6 early in set three before a kill and an ace by Cruz sparked an 8-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 14-9. The Vaqueros went up by as much as six at 19-13 on a block by Giani and Cruz. The Huskies followed with a 10-5 run to pull within 23-24 before a Giani kill ended the set.
Down 3-5 at the start of set four, the Vaqueros scored four-straight points as part of a 7-2 run, capped by a Lupescu kill, to take the lead. The Vaqueros went up as much as four at 13-9 on a Santos kill and 14-10 on a Key kill. The Huskies stayed close, tying the set at 22 before a Charitonidi kill, an error, and a Santos kill ended the match.
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