RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team rode the incredible energy provided by 2,167 rowdy fans to a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-10, 25-17) over the Incarnate Word (UIW) Cardinals Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Kids Day match, presented by Whataburger, led to the second largest crowd in program history and an energetic atmosphere that fueled UTRGV (6-4) to victory. Junior setter
Luanna Emiliano had a double-double with 29 assists, 15 digs and two kills. Junior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis led all hitters with 11 kills on .450 hitting. Senior middle blocker
Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded 10 kills on .450 hitting. Freshman outside hitter
Nadine Zech added eight kills. Junior libero
Kiaraliz Perez tallied 15 digs, four assists and one kill.
UIW (7-3) was led offensively by
Allison Palmi's six kills while
Annamarie Alvarez, Kyla Malone and
Risa Sena each tabbed five.
The Vaqueros opened the first set swinging efficiently and showing off their scrappy defense to lead by as many as six points. The defense, led by Perez, was active and covered the court well as the Cardinals got a lot of hands on swings at the net. UTRGV's middles were particularly productive in the frame, with both Santos and Giani accounting for four kills with .500 and 1.000 hitting percentages, respectively. Assis led the Vaqueros with five kills in the frame and, fittingly, slammed down the final shot to take the opening set, 25-19.
UTRGV opened up an early 11-5 lead following back-to-back kills from Zech's powerful swing. Zech and the Vaqueros hit .281 in the frame they controlled from the start, earning a quick 25-10 win. The Vaqueros applied constant pressure on the net and played incredible defense, forcing the Cardinals to overthink their attack. UIW was held to a -.069 hitting percentage in the set.
Zech and Assis were solid at the outside pin to open up the lead. Even Perez got involved in the attack, recognizing a hole in UIW's defense and sinking a pass cross court in the corner for a libero kill. UTRGV was firing on all cylinders in the frame, much to the delight of the extremely rowdy crowd that broke out into gym-shaking "UTRGV" chants.
The Vaqueros and their loud supporters had the Cardinals out of sorts by the third set. A series of UIW attack errors and strong play on the net from Santos helped UTRGV build a lead. Zech ripped back-to-back kills and sophomore Sharyland Pioneer alum
Natalie Reyes notched her second ace of the match to grow the lead to 16-8.
The Cardinals started applying pressure on the net down the stretch, putting hands on swings to slow the Vaqueros down a touch. But Santos, Assis and strong defensive play secured the sweep with a 25-17 third set.
UTRGV hit .275 in the match while holding the Cardinals to .077 with only 27 kills. The Vaqueros had a solid serving performance with six aces.
UTRGV will be back on the road for its final non-conference tournament Sept. 15-16 in San Francisco for the USF Challenge.
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