OREM, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team earned its fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference (WAC) sweep Saturday with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-19) victory over the Utah Valley (UVU) Wolverines at Lockhart Arena.
UTRGV (11-8, 5-1 WAC) saw four student-athletes tally double-digit kills as the Vaqueros showed out offensively and hit .328 on the day. Junior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis led UTRGV for a second straight match with 11 kills and had seven digs. Junior outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu, junior right side
Perris Key and senior middle blocker
Luisa Silva Dos Santos each recorded 10 kills on .500 hitting, .381 hitting and .333 hitting, respectively. Key notched her sixth double-double of the season with 14 digs.
Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano and junior libero
Kiaraliz Perez garnered high praise from the UVU broadcast for their efforts Saturday. Emiliano dished out 41 assists and had a career-high tying seven kills on .429 hitting. Perez tallied a match-high 18 digs and added two kills as she showed her accuracy and agility, diving for one-handed digs and covering the court extremely well to keep the Vaqueros in system.
Utah Valley (4-12, 1-4 WAC) recorded 12 blocks, led by nine from
Vittoria Price. Avery Shewell had 12 kills, seven digs and three blocks, and
Tori Ellis contributed 10 kills on .391 hitting. Setter
Abbie Medeiros had 18 assists.
The tone of the competitive match was set right away in a back-and-forth, gritty opening set. Utah Valley got its block involved early, recording six blocks in the first set. UTRGV tabbed only one, but it was the most important of the frame – on set point, Lupescu and junior middle blocker
Margherita Giani sealed the outside with a timely block to take the frame, 28-26.
Santos and Assis paced the Vaqueros offense with six kills each in the first set. Both notched back-to-back kills at different important times to draw UTRGV even with the Wolverines. Emiliano showed off her volleyball IQ to tab two setter's dump kills and keep the offense running.
Emiliano's play, efficient production from Key and incredible defense from Perez helped the Vaqueros take a 2-0 lead in the match after a solid 25-21 win in the second set. It was just as competitive as the first early on, with the teams exchanging 2-0 runs to a 14-14 tie. Freshman Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant came off the bench and immediately recorded back-to-back kills to give the Vaqueros an edge. Lupescu's powerful swing sparked a scoring run that led to the largest lead for either team at 20-15. UTRGV had Utah Valley out of sorts to close the frame, and though the Wolverines managed to fight off two set points, a sharp shot from Key secured the set win.
Emiliano tallied the first three points of the third frame for UTRGV with an ace and a pair of kills. But the third set was another back-and-forth battle, with both teams making impressive defensive plays leading to long rallies. The Wolverines block got back in the game, but UTRGV's pins responded with smart shots and tips to get back on top, 15-13.
Perez's admirable defensive day continued to aid UTRGV's strong close to the third frame. Her efforts helped Emiliano facilitate a balanced and highly efficient offense that saw the Vaqueros hit .425 in the third set and .328 for the match. Emiliano's seventh kill of the match was another second-touch score to clinch the victory, 25-19.
The Vaqueros return to the UTRGV Fieldhouse for a pair of important WAC matches next week, starting with a 6:30 p.m. contest against Grand Canyon Thursday. Fans can purchase tickets at GoUTRGV.com/Ticket or by contacting the UTRGV Ticket Sales and Operations team of
Ryela Rodriguez (956-665-3747) or
Eddie Galvan (956-665-3415) over the phone or through email at
tickets@utrgv.edu.
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