AKRON, Ohio – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team fell 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-15) to the Wyoming Cowgirls Friday to open the Zips/CSU Invitational at Akron's James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Vaqueros (3-1) will be back in action at 5 p.m. to face tournament co-host Cleveland State (3-1) at Woodling Gymnasium in Cleveland.
Senior outside hitter
Ilana De Assis led the Vaqueros offense with a match- and season-high 19 kills on .361 hitting. Sophomore outside hitter
Nadine Zech added six kills and senior outside hitter
Ingridy Nicoleti Foltran had five kills on .375 hitting in her season debut. Sophomore setter
Isabella Costantini recorded 31 assists and seven digs.
Wyoming (3-0) held UTRGV to .128 hitting and collected 11 blocks in the victory.
Paige Lauterwasser had a team-high 12 kills and
Kasia Partyka dished out 35 assists.
Sierra Grizzle had a match-high 12 digs.
Wyoming jumped out to a 1-0 advantage after a back-and-forth opening set. Both teams committed some unforced errors as they got the day started, particularly struggling with the attack. Wyoming hit .061 and UTRGV was held to -.067 as the Cowgirls tallied six blocks in the first frame. After falling behind by five early, the Vaqueros showed good fight to rally several times, but Wyoming held on to take the set, 25-19.
Scoring runs continued as the match moved on to Set 2. The Vaqueros used a 5-0 push to get on top early and maintained the cushion with strong play from Zech. Wyoming responded with five unanswered, then a solo block from senior right side
Perris Key helped UTRGV be the first to 15, up by one. The teams swapped points for several rallies to a 21-21 tie, and though Assis killed off one set point with a big kill, Wyoming took the 2-0 lead with a 25-23 set win.
The Cowgirls opened up a 4-0 lead in the third, but the resilient Vaqueros kept pushing. Assis was the go-to arm and tabbed three consecutive kills to get UTRGV within one, then Foltran knotted the frame at 7-7. Wyoming took control of the back end of the set and secured the victory, 25-15.
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