RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros volleyball team has won nine consecutive matches for the third time in program history after sweeping the Prairie View A&M Panthers 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-11) on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in their second match of the UTRGV Tournament.
Freshman Sharyland Pioneer alum
Natalie Reyes got her first career start as UTRGV's (9-1) setter and dished out 33 assists. The Vaqueros were paced offensively by sophomore outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu and senior outside hitter
Sarah Cruz, who recorded 12 and nine kills, respectively, and combined for three aces. Lupescu added two blocks and eight digs and hit at an impressive .458 clip. Junior outside hitter
Ioanna Charitonidi notched a .545 hitting percentage, putting down seven kills on 11 attempts.
Junior middle blocker
Luisa Silva Dos Santos and freshman middle blocker
Brooke Box recorded three blocks each and sophomore middle blocker
Margherita Giani added two as the Vaqueros recorded 16 total blocks. Redshirt junior libero
Regina Tijerina had 13 digs.
PVAMU (1-10) was led by freshman
Kylee Owens who recorded a match-high 14 kills.
Leila Smalls had three blocks and three kills, and
Kiersten Atkinson added seven kills.
Reyes pushed the ball beautifully to set up her outside pins, who were particularly busy in the opening frame. Lupescu, Cruz and Giani were attacking well early and the Vaqueros hit .244 as as a team with only four attack errors.
Prairie View's defense was solid in the opening set. Smalls, Atkinson and
Delaney Esterling had the block challenging UTRGV's attackers, and libero
Yarian Pagan Candelaria and Co. picked up much of what the Vaqueros sent their way. They passed well and showed off their powerful hitters to keep the set tight, but Giani and Lupescu helped the Vaqueros create some separation down the stretch. The Panthers fought off three set points, but UTRGV held on to take the 1-0 lead.
UTRGV flexed its muscles in the second frame. Lupescu spearheaded a 5-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 10-4, and they never lost control despite PVAMU continuing to battle. Reyes looked more comfortable with her hitters which increased the attacking efficiency and the Vaqueros were able to keep the Panthers scrambling and out of system often, hitting .308 with only one error. Tijerina's tough serving aided a quick two-point run for Santos, who went up to slam down an overpass on serve-receive and then stuck a block when a poor pass pushed PVAMU too tight to the net.
Charitonidi and Box subbed in late in the second and immediately recorded a block to put UTRGV up 22-11. The Vaqueros recorded three blocks in the frame and held PVAMU to a -.111 hitting percentage, committing 11 errors to only recording eight kills.
Charitonidi led the Vaqueros to a 25-11 win in the third set to secure the sweep. She recorded all seven of her kills to keep UTRGV firmly in control. Fittingly, Charitonidi hit a rocket for the final kill to end the match.
The Vaqueros will cap the UTRGV Tournament with a 2:30 p.m. match against the Montana Grizzlies on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Support UTRGV Volleyball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
