RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team was defeated 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 25-18) by the UT Arlington (UTA) Mavericks Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match.
UTRGV (14-11, 8-4 WAC) was led offensively by junior right side
Perris Key's 10 kills. Junior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis added nine kills, senior middle blocker
Luisa Silva Dos Santos had eight and junior
Claudia Lupescu and freshman
Nadine Zech finished with seven each. Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano tabbed her 14
th double-double with 39 assists and 10 digs. Freshman
Isa Bento got her first start at libero and recorded career highs with 20 digs and five assists.
UT Arlington (17-7, 6-5 WAC) had three players with double-digit kills, led by
Brianna Ford's 18 on .341 hitting.
Paige Reagor added 13 on .684 hitting and
Jalie Tritt had 11 on .476 hitting.
Mollie Blank tallied 48 assists and
Alyssa Duran tabbed five aces. The Mavericks hit .375 as a team while UTRGV was held to .193 hitting as UTA's block and tough serving proved too much to overcome with the Vaqueros playing shorthanded on defense.
UTRGV welcomed its sixth, and program-record tying, crowd of 1,000+, drawing 1,125 on a day that fans received replica 2022 WAC Championship rings sponsored by Dill Law Firm.
The Mavericks took the first set, 25-15, as they took advantage of some early defensive woes for UTRGV. UTA hit .452 in the opening frame as the Vaqueros didn't finish on blocks and had inconsistent passing. Key and junior middle blocker
Margherita Giani put down some good kills from the right side to end UTA scoring runs, but the Mavericks went up by as many as 11 points to gain control. UTRGV fought off two set points with kills by Giani and Assis, but UTA put it away.
The second set was competitive throughout. UTRGV altered its lineup and saw good results, getting big swings from Zech and Key and an improved block. Zech recorded a solo block to put the Vaqueros on top, 12-10. From there, the teams swapped scores until the Mavericks used a late 7-2 run behind tough serving to lead 21-17, forcing a timeout. UTRGV scored three in a row out of the break, but the Mavericks scored the final four points to take the frame, 25-20, and lead the match 2-0.
UTRGV opened the third set with a 5-0 lead behind a pair of kills from Zech and an ace from Emiliano. Santos was producing at a high efficiency early on, putting down good kills and swinging from every pin to help the Vaqueros go up 10-6. The dueling teams swapped points until UTA went on a 7-0 run to claim a 15-12 lead.
Lupescu subbed in provided a great spark for the Vaqueros, immediately recording back-to-back kills and tallying three to tie the set at 16-16. Assis and junior
Julia Abramo Rocha also produced off the bench to help UTRGV put the set away. Abramo, making her season debut, served tough to force the Mavericks to commit two errors and put UTRGV on top, 23-21. UTA tied the frame but Assis ripped two clutch kills to secure the set win, 25-23.
UT Arlington went up 5-0 in the fourth set and never looked back despite good effort from UTRGV. But the Vaqueros hit just .054 in the frame, and the Mavericks claimed a 25-18 set win to take the match, 3-1. Zech tabbed her second ace and served tough to cut the deficit to two, and Lupescu again ripped powerful kills to stop UTA's momentum, but the Mavericks maintained control.
UTRGV's next match is Thursday at 7 p.m. at Utah Tech.
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