HOUSTON –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team battled for a well-earned 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-12, 31-29) victory Saturday over the Houston Christian (HCU) Huskies at Sharp Gym for their second consecutive Southland Conference (SLC) win.
UTRGV (6-7, 2-1 SLC) tallied double-digit aces for the fourth time this season, serving up 11 behind a career-high five aces from senior right side
Perris Key and a career-high four aces from sophomore setter
Isabella Costantini. Key added seven kills on .636 hitting and Costantini dished out 44 assists with 13 digs and two kills for her fourth double-double of the season.
The trio of seniors
Claudia Lupescu and
Ilana De Assis and sophomore
Nadine Zech powered UTRGV's offense. Lupescu had a match-high 20 kills on .346 hitting with nine digs, while Zech recorded 19 kills on .447 hitting with 11 digs for her fourth double-double. Assis added 15 kills and seven digs. Sophomore libero
Celianiz Cabranes tallied a UTRGV career-high 27 digs to anchor an impressive defensive effort from the Vaqueros.
Audrey Pearce paced HCU (5-10 2-2 SLC) offensively with 17 kills on .560 hitting. The Huskies had four players with double-digit digs, led by 14 from
Tatiana Evans. Setter
Grace McLaughlin recorded 41 assists.
The opening set started tight, with the teams swapping scores until the Vaqueros created a little momentum sparked byKey at the service line. Key tallied three aces to aid a 5-0 scoring run, putting UTRGV on top 13-7. Houston Christian rallied, tightening up the efficiency on offense to force the Vaqueros out of system. The Huskies committed just one attack error in the first set, hitting .343 as a team to go on scoring runs down the stretch and taking the frame, 25-18.
UTRGV flipped the script in the second set by leaning on its defense and applying pressure from the service line. The Vaqueros had five aces in the frame – three from Costantini as part of a 6-0 run – and by forcing HCU to scramble, they slowed down the Huskies offense. Zech showed off her arm with five kills in the set and UTRGV opened up a 21-8 lead. HCU made a push late, but with Cabranes anchoring the defense, the Vaqueros held on as Lupescu delivered two timely kills to take the set, 25-18.
The Vaqueros rode the momentum created with a strong second set to completely dominate the third. They continued to serve tough and play good defense, containing HCU's offense. Zech recorded more kills on her own, eight, in the frame than the Huskies did as a team, as UTRGV held HCU to seven kills and .077 hitting. Costantini had the offense rolling as the Vaqueros didn't have a single attack error in the frame.
Key, Zech and Costantini sparked a 10-1 run in the third which put UTRGV up 16-7, and the Vaqueros never looked back. Sophomore middle blocker and Brownsville Veterans Memorial alum
Elise Fourt tabbed her second solo block and Lupescu added six kills as UTRGV took the frame, 25-12 – earning its largest set win of the season.
Both teams battled in the fourth. UTRGV jumped on top early after an ace from Cabranes and good offensive variety from Costantini, but the teams quickly found themselves knotted at 12-12. From there, they swapped scores until the Vaqueros again created some cushion, up 19-16. HCU drew even then took its first lead of the frame at 21-20, setting up an exciting finish.
The teams exchanged ties and lead changes behind 2-0 runs. Lupescu came up huge for the Vaqueros, killing off three HCU set points with her powerful swing. With the set tied at 29-29, Zech and Assis made the third match point the charm and sealed UTRGV's 3-1 win after a gritty 31-29 fourth frame.
The Vaqueros return to the UTRGV Fieldhouse for a three-match homestand which begins with a 6:30 p.m. match Tuesday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union. The first 500 fans will receive free #BeatCorpus t-shirts. Visit
UTRGVTickets.com to purchase tickets for Vaqueros volleyball matches. UTRGV Athletics has a
clear bag policy which will be enforced for spectators attending all athletic events hosted by UTRGV.
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