DENTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team opened the 2022 season and the North Texas Invite with a 2-3 (25-21, 28-26, 25-27, 24-26, 2-15) loss to the UNLV Rebels on Friday at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
The Vaqueros continue the tournament at 4 p.m. against Jacksonville.
In this match, senior
Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (0-1) with 17 kills, 12 digs, three aces and three blocks. Sophomore
Ingridy Foltran recorded a career-high 17 kills on .342 hitting with a career-high two aces. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano posted a double-double with 43 assists, 11 digs, two aces, two blocks and three kills. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded seven blocks with seven kills. Junior
Maria Eduarda Rodrigues recorded six blocks and six kills. Sophomore
Margherita Giani posted six blocks with five kills. Graduate student
Sydney Schoen finished with 18 digs and four assists.
Gabrielle Arretche-Ramos led the Rebels (1-0) with 30 kills on .426 hitting.
Isabel Martin finished with 21 kills, nine digs and four blocks.
Chloe Thomas posted 17 kills with four blocks.
Jhenna Gabriel dished out 66 assists with 14 digs.
The Vaqueros scored the first three points of the first set while riding three blocks to take an 8-4 lead. The Vaqueros pushed their lead to 12-7 on a block by Cruz and Santos and 14-8 on an error. The Vaqueros led by seven for the first time at 20-13 on a Cruz kill and went up by as much as eight at 22-14 on another Cruz kill and 24-16 on a Rodrigues kill before winning the set on an error.
Emiliano served up an early ace and recorded a kill as the Vaqueros scored the first four points of the second set en route to a 6-2 lead. The Rebels pulled to within one at 5-6 and 6-7 before a Giani kill sparked a 4-1 run put the Vaqueros up 11-7. The Vaqueros still led by five at 17-12 when the Rebels started to chip away, tying the set at 21, 22 and 23. The Rebels reached set point at 24-23, but after a timeout, a Foltran kill kept the set going. A Foltran ace gave the Vaqueros set point at 26-25. One serve later, a Cruz kill and an error ended the set.
Back-to-back Cruz kills sparked the Vaqueros to take a 4-1 lead in the third set. The Rebels won 13 of the next 17 serves to take a 14-8 lead. That's when a Cruz kill sparked a 7-3 run to bring the Vaqueros within 15-17. Two serves later, a Rodrigues block, an error and three-straight Cruz kills restored the Vaqueros' lead at 20-19. The Rebels regained the lead at 21-20 before kills by Giani and Cruz put the Vaqueros back on top. The Vaqueros led again at 23-22 on another Cruz kill when back-to-back Rebels points gave UNLV set point. An error tied the set at 24 and a Cruz kill tied the set at 25 before the Rebels won the final two serves to force a fourth set.
Tied at 3 to start the fourth set, the Vaqueros went on a 6-2 run to take a 9-5 lead. Then, after Rebel won three of the next four serves, a Rodrigues kill helped the Vaqueros score three-straight points to go up 13-8. The Rebels climbed to within 14-11, but the Vaqueros again scored three-straight points, going up 17-11 on a Foltran kill. The Vaqueros led by as much as seven at 23-16 on a Santos kill. The Rebels scored the next five points before a Foltran kill brought the Vaqueros to match point. The Rebels won the final five serves to win the set.
The Rebels scored the first 11 points of the fifth set to put the match away.
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