RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team dropped its Southland Conference (SLC) opener Saturday, 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-21) to the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Ladyjacks at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Vaqueros (4-7, 0-1 SLC) were paced offensively by senior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis, who had 17 kills and just missed a double-double with nine digs. Senior outside hitter
Claudia Lupescu added 10 kills and seven digs and had a season-high tying two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter
Nadine Zech had eight kills on seven digs and senior right side
Perris Key tabbed three kills on .500 hitting. Sophomore setter
Isabella Costantini dished out 36 assists and sophomore libero
Celianiz Cabranes had a match-high 13 digs.
SFA (10-5, 2-0 SLC) got 10 kills on .364 hitting from
Camryn Hill. Izabella Ortiz added nine kills on .818 hitting while
Katherine Holtman and
Molly Cravens each had seven.
Sophia Wilson and
Jayden Flynn shared the setting duties, tallying 16 and 15 assists each.
The Ladyjacks controlled the first set from start to finish, taking a 1-0 lead in the match after a 25-18 set win. Miscues kept the Vaqueros from finding a rhythm with missed serves and eight attack errors while hitting just .103. Assis and Lupescu paced the offense with six and four kills, respectively, but there wasn't much variety in the attack as UTRGV played from behind and SFA took advantage to extend its lead to six late in the frame, enough to put it out of reach.
The teams played each other tight through most of the second set. UTRGV grabbed an early one-point lead, then after falling behind 4-7, the Vaqueros got on a roll. After a block from Lupescu and Key, a successful challenge and a good kill from Lupescu, UTRGV was the first to 10, leading by one.
SFA responded with a 4-0 run to regain the advantage. UTRGV continued to play relentless defense and managed a 4-1 run midway through the frame to force a 'Jacks timeout. Zech and Lupescu showed their power on the attack and the offense improved its efficiency, hitting .276 in the frame. But a lack of variety in the attack – only four swings were taken by someone not named Assis, Lupescu or Zech through two sets – allowed SFA to challenge defensively and force UTRGV out of sorts as the 'Jacks used a 6-0 run to close the second set and win it, 25-17.
UTRGV showed its fight in the third frame, playing good defense and getting more active on the block. The Vaqueros played tough and swapped scores and lead changes with the Ladyjacks early in the set. Assis remained the go-to arm, putting down seven kills in the third from the outside, right side and back row.
SFA turned to the offspeed attack in the third set and UTRGV responded well, showing good court coverage as they sold out for balls and kept rallies long and competitive. The Vaqueros killed off four match points as they fought to the finish, but the 11
th missed serve of the match secured the win for SFA, 25-21.
UTRGV's next match is Thursday at Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. Fans can watch domestically on ESPN+.
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