RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team swept the California Baptist (CBU) Lancers, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-19) Saturday in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV (12-9, 6-2 WAC) was led offensively by junior right side
Perris Key's 10 kills. Junior outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu recorded eight kills and had eight digs, and senior middle blocker
Luisa Silva Dos Santos added seven kills on .333 hitting. Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano tabbed her 12
th double-double with 24 assists and 17 digs. Junior libero
Kiaraliz Perez recorded 19 digs and had nine assists.
CBU (10-8, 3-4 WAC) was led by
Nicole Mauser's nine kills.
Michalina Rola added eight kills.
Brianna Young and
Mia Jerue had 16 and 14 digs, respectively.
The first set was full of scoring runs by both teams. The Lancers and Vaqueros exchanged 3-0 runs early. Santos slammed down an over pass to spark a 5-0 run for UTRGV to gain an 8-4 lead, but CBU came right back with five straight of its own to retake the lead at 10-9.
With help from sound defense from freshman defensive specialist
Isa Bento and good contribution from all the pins, the Vaqueros jumped back on top at 16-14 following a four-point run with booming kills from Key. Again, the Lancers responded, reclaiming a 17-16 lead after a kill from Mauser. The teams continued to exchange two or three point runs until UTRGV's freshman outside hitter
Nadine Zech and junior middle blocker
Margherita Giani slammed down kills to secure the competitive first set, 25-22, for the Vaqueros.
UTRGV took control of the second set from the start behind incredible play on the net. The Vaqueros maintained a significant lead throughout the frame and took the 2-0 lead in the match after a resounding 25-16 set win. The Vaqueros recorded four blocks and were active on the net, forcing the Lancers to commit attack errors and hit just .077 in the frame. Santos notched four rocket kills in the set to pace the Vaqueros and had a solo block.
The Vaqueros showed their scrappiness to win the third set, 25-19, and secure the conference sweep. They scrambled for digs and used their athleticism to keep rallies alive, and even playing out of system, the Vaqueros found ways to score. Bento served well and recorded the first ace of her career to aid a big run that put UTRGV up 10-5.
UTRGV's relentless defensive effort left the Lancers on their heels. CBU committed 24 attack errors and struggled to pass consistently, leading to the Lancers hitting .053 in the match. A solo block from Giani and some highlight plays from Emiliano down the stretch secured the third set and the match for UTRGV.
UTRGV's next match will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at Abilene Christian (10-9, 5-2 WAC).
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