EL PASO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team closed out non-conference play with a 0-3 (16-25, 22-25, 24-26) loss to the UTEP Miners on Monday at Memorial Gym.
Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos led the Vaqueros (11-4) with seven kills on an error-free .636 hitting and two blocks. Senior
Sarah Cruz recorded six kills with five digs, two blocks and two aces. Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu posted five kills and two blocks. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano dished out 18 assists with eight digs.
Sara Pustahjia led the Miners (6-7) with 16 kills.
Torrance Lovesee recorded 14 kills.
The Miners jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the opening set. Kills by Lupescu, Santos and Emiliano helped the Vaqueros scored three of the next four points to pull within 6-12. The Vaqueros were within six three more times, including 9-15 on a kill by sophomore
Ada Bulgur, but that's as close as they got.
The Vaqueros jumped out to leads of 4-1 and 5-2 in the second set. A block by Santos and Lupescu put the Vaqueros up 7-4 before the Miners reeled off four-straight points to take the lead. Down 9-10, the Vaqueros scored three of the next four points to go up 12-11 on a kill by sophomore
Margherita Giani. The Miners won the next three serves before kills by Lupescu and Santos tied the set at 14. The Miners scored three of the next four points before a block and two kills by Santos powered a 4-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 19-17. The Vaqueros still led by two at 20-18 on a Cruz kill, but the Miners closed the set on a 7-2 run.
The Miners led 3-1 out of the gate in set three. The Vaqueros took their first lead at 7-6 on kills by Santos and Cruz and then 8-7 on an error. The Miners answered by scoring four of the next five points before a Cruz kill sparked an 8-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 17-12. That's when the Miners went on a 10-3 run to regain the lead at 22-20. The Vaqueros took advantage of back-to-back errors to tie the set at 22. The Miners won the next two serves to get to match point, before two more errors allowed the Vaqueros to pull even at 24. The Miners, however, won the final two serves to end the match.
UTRGV opens Western Athletic Conference play on Thursday at 7 p.m. at New Mexico State.
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