RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team showed incredible fight to capture a thrilling 3-1 (25-17, 13-25, 30-28, 25-22) victory over the Tarleton State (TSU) Texans Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match.
UTRGV (17-11, 11-4 WAC) secured the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, which runs Nov. 16-18 in Orem, Utah, with the win. Junior outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu led the way with a career-high 23 kills on a whopping .444 hitting, adding nine digs and one ace. Freshman outside hitter
Nadine Zech had 15 kills, seven digs and one block. Freshman Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant tied her career high with eight kills and had two blocks. Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano recorded her 17th double-double with 46 assists, 13 digs, four kills and two blocks. Junior libero
Kiaraliz Perez had 21 digs.
The Vaqueros were helped by a rowdy crowd of 1,073 – the program record seventh crowd of 1,000+ at the UTRGV Fieldhouse this season.
Tarleton State (15-14, 6-9 WAC) was led by
Rajini Fitzmaurice, who tabbed 17 kills on .359 hitting, eight digs and four blocks.
Emma Burke added 11 kills on .500 hitting and had three blocks.
Megan Hodges and
Melina Maldonado tabbed 28 and 18 assists and libero
Matti Theurer had 14 digs.
The Vaqueros looked crisp and in control through most of the first set, taking a 25-17 win. Perez led a solid passing effort that allowed Emiliano to distribute the ball to all of her pins, getting big kills from Bryant, Lupescu and Zech all across the net. A Lupescu kill off a near Texans block sparked a 9-1 run for the Vaqueros, backed by an active block led by Bryant and Santos, for a 16-8 lead.
The tenacious Texans went on a 4-0 run after falling behind by nine, aided by some Vaqueros attack errors. Zech ripped a kill from the outside to stop the momentum, then sophomore Sharyland Pioneer alum
Natalie Reyes recorded an ace to get to set point. Reyes' tough serving pushed Tarleton State out of rhythm, and an attack error secured the opening frame for UTRGV.
Set Two started very tight, with the teams swapping scores and small runs. Rallies were competitive, filled with great back row defense and heavy swings by pins on both sides. From an 11-11 knot, the Texans went on an 8-0 run behind exceptional passing and tough serving, forcing UTRGV out of system while TSU ran an efficient offense. The Texans rode that momentum to a 25-13 set win. They forced the Vaqueros out of sorts, holding the home team to a .000 hitting percentage while the Texans hit .379 in the dominant frame.
Both teams showed tremendous grit through a rollercoaster of a third set. Tarleton State caused problems with its scrappy defense, letting its solid passing turn into an efficient offense that forced UTRGV out of system and out of options on the attack. The Texans created a 14-8 advantage and looked in control through the early part of the frame.
But the Vaqueros showed incredible fight to claw their way back, first using a 4-0 run to settle in and create some rhythm. Bryant was massive in the comeback effort, recording back-to-back kills and three on three swings to fire up her teammates and the crowd and trim the deficit to 17-16.
A 5-0 run behind effective serving from freshman defensive specialist
Isa Bento put the Vaqueros on top, 21-18, after an ace by Bento, who finished with a career-high two aces. The teams exchanged blows until a sharp swing by Lupescu got UTRGV to set point, up 24-22. The resilient Texans fought off six set points, but the arms of Lupescu and Zech powered the Vaqueros to a well-earned 30-28 set win and 2-1 match lead.
Tarleton State's block was a big factor to start the fourth set, helping the Texans open up an early 8-2 lead. But as UTRGV's defense settled in, TSU committed three attack errors in a row to help the Vaqueros cut the deficit to 8-6.
Lupescu ripped a series of super sharp shots and smartly mixed in some off-speed attacks to spark the Vaqueros. She recorded three kills on three swings and added an ace during a 5-1 run to tie the set at 15-15.
From there, it was a duel again, with the teams swapping scores and treating the crowd to great hustle plays. Lupescu continued to produce at a rapid pace, scoring three points off kills for the Vaqueros to hold off a late push from the Texans and put UTRGV up, 23-22. The final two rallies were long, competitive and exciting, ending with a libero kill by Perez as she recorded a dig on a heavy swing from the Texans and another loud kill by Zech.
The Vaqueros will play their final regular season match Saturday at 2 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse against Abilene Christian. Fans can purchase tickets at GoUTRGV.com/Tickets.
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