ST. GEORGE, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team clinched its spot in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament with a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20) victory over the Utah Tech Trailblazers Thursday at Burns Arena.
UTRGV (15-11, 9-4 WAC) was led by freshman outside hitter
Nadine Zech's first double-double. Zech recorded a match-high 14 kills with a career-high 11 digs and 2.5 blocks. Junior outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu added 10 kills on .321 hitting, nine digs and two aces. UTRGV's middle blocker duo of senior
Luisa Silva Dos Santos and junior
Margherita Giani was dynamic, with both middles notching nine kills on .304 and .353 hitting, respectively, while dominating the net. Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano earned her 15
th double-double with 42 assists, 15 digs, three kills and two aces. Junior libero
Kiaraliz Perez returned to the lineup and had 17 digs and three assists. Freshman outside hitter
Giovana Ribeiro tabbed six kills, a career-high three blocks, two digs and one assist in two solid sets off the bench.
Utah Tech (8-15, 4-9 WAC) saw
Kennedi Knudsen and
Kate Hardy record 12 and 10 kills each.
Emma Ricks had a match-high 19 digs.
UTRGV and the Trailblazers played each other tight through the first set, swapping points and lead changes throughout a frame that saw the largest lead sit at four points. UTRGV's middles, Santos and Giani, were efficient and dangerous with three kills each, including a textbook slide by Giani.
Utah Tech took a late 19-17 lead, forcing a UTRGV timeout, and the Vaqueros came out of the break determined. They closed the set with an 8-2 scoring advantage, aided by service aces from Emiliano and Lupescu and timely kills from both. The Vaqueros tallied three blocks in the set to hold Utah Tech to a .154 hitting percentage and won the set, 25-21.
The Trailblazers tied the match with a 25-22 win in the second set, another filled with small scoring runs and lead changes. Emiliano continued to distribute the ball to her many hitters, primarily playing through the productive middle blocker duo of Santos and Giani. Utah Tech opened up a 15-12 lead, but UTRGV clawed back to knot it at 16-16 after a solo block by junior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis. The Trailblazers took advantage of some UTRGV errors to hold on and take the set.
The third set was all Vaqueros from start to finish. UTRGV opened a 5-0 lead with three blocks and an ace from Emiliano. Ribeiro saw her first action in the frame and made an immediate impact with blocks and kills to help the Vaqueros lead by as many as 12 points. UTRGV's hitters were extremely efficient in the set, hitting .379, and the block recorded five stops to hold Utah Tech to a .047 clip. The Vaqueros rolled to a 25-13 win in the set, recording 11 kills with an impressive zero attack errors, while the Trailblazers were stymied by 10 bad attacks.
UTRGV looked in control again to start the fourth set, taking a 10-5 lead with good variety in the attack and a continued strong blocking effort. But the Trailblazers didn't go down quietly, stringing three blocks in a row then getting another 3-0 run to take its first lead at 12-11.
Zech ripped a kill to knot the set at 13-13, sparking a 6-1 run for the Vaqueros. Another kill from Zech opened the gap to 21-15. The Trailblazers used a late three-point run to apply some pressure, but Giani threw down another fast kill to reach match point and Utah Tech's eighth attack error of the set clinched the victory.
Up next, the Vaqueros will play at Southern Utah on Saturday at 7 p.m. (CT).
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