CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team completed the season sweep of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders by winning 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-22) as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Tuesday at Dugan Wellness Center.
UTRGV won the attendance point by outdrawing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1,937-to-734. The Vaqueros (7-1) now lead the Islanders (0-8) 10-3 in the showdown standings.
This is the first time the Vaqueros have swept the season series from the Islanders in volleyball since 2018-19.
The Vaqueros are winners of seven in a row, their longest winning streak since winning eight-straight from Oct. 18 through Nov. 17, 2018.
Sophomore
Claudia Lupescu led the Vaqueros with 12 kills on .360 hitting. Sophomore
Magherita Giani recorded eight kills on .333 hitting and five blocks. Junior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos posted seven kills on an error-free .583 hitting with two blocks and two aces. Senior
Sarah Cruz recorded seven kills with five digs, four blocks and two aces. Sophomore
Luanna Emiliano dished out 34 assists with eight digs.
Kyndal Payne led the Islanders with nine kills and four digs.
The Vaqueros trailed 3-4 at the start of the first set when a pair of Lupescu kills helped the Vaqueros score three-straight points to take the lead. The Islanders responded with a 4-0 run to go up 8-6. The Vaqueros then scored four of the next five points to take a 10-9 lead. The Islanders regained the lead and went up 14-12 before a Giani block capped a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 17-15. After the Islanders won the next two serves, an error and a kill and a block by Giani put the Vaqueros up 20-17. The Vaqueros led the rest of the way, winning the set on another Giani block.
Cruz came up with a kill and two aces to power the Vaqueros to an 8-2 lead in the second set. Then, up 9-4, a Lupescu kill and a block by Cruz and Giani put the Vaqueros up 11-4. The Islanders got as close as 9-14 when a Lupescu kill and a Santos ace sparked a 6-0 run to put the Vaqueros up 21-9 and push the set out of reach.
The Islanders led early in the third set, going up 6-4. An Emiliano kill sparked a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 10-7. The Islanders pulled within 15-16, but Giani and Cruz answered with kills to restore the Vaqueros' three-point edge. The Vaqueros went up 21-18 on a Santos kill before back-to-back Islanders points made the score 21-20. Lupescu pushed back with a kill. After another Islanders point, Lupescu came up with another kill, the first of two-straight points to get the Vaqueros to match point. Then, at 24-22, a Giani kill ended the match.
UTRGV is back in action on Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Montana at the UTRGV Fieldhouse as part of the UTRGV Tournament. Montana faces Prairie View A&M at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now and 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. Doors open one hour before scheduled match time.
Fans unable to attend either match in person can watch domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally on
WAC International.
The next events of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, are on Oct. 15when the men's and women's cross country teams compete at Texas A&M's Arturo Barrios Invitational. The men compete in an 8k at 9 a.m. while the women follow with a 6k at 9:45 a.m.
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