RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team earned a dominant 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) sweep over the Northwestern State (NSU) Lady Demons Thursday in a Southland Conference (SLC) match in front of 1,340 fans at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Thursday's crowd makes UTRGV 4-for-4 with crowds of 1,000+ this season. Senior right side
Valentina Sarti Cipriani paced the Vaqueros (7-7, 2-1 SLC) with 10 kills on an errorless .769 hitting and had two blocks. Junior middle blocker and Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant had eight kills with two blocks. Freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou and junior middle blocker
Aaliyah Snead added six kills each while Snead had a match-high three blocks. Sophomore outside hitter
Martina Franco made her way back into the lineup and had five kills on 11 swings. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini recorded 34 assists, a career-high tying five aces, five digs and two kills.
Elsie Sanchez Oliver led Northwestern State (1-16, 0-3 SLC) with five kills.
Emmarie McFarland had nine digs while
Samaya Wesson and
Olivia Bush both tabbed two blocks while Wesson added four kills.
UTRGV wasted no time setting the tone in a dominant first set. The Vaqueros hit .571 with 17 kills and only one attack error as they rolled to a 25-12 set win. Cipriani paced the offense with six kills, ripping sharp-angled shots from the right side. Zech used her power to beat the block on the outside down the stretch, putting the Vaqueros at set point. The Lady Demons fought off two set points, but Bryant secured the 1-0 match lead with a slam on an overpass. Seven of NSU's 12 points in the first set came off UTRGV errors, six from the service line.
The second set played tight early as the Lady Demons chased their first win since the season opener. Nanou continued to serve tough and gave UTRGV momentum early, but Northwestern State stayed within two or three points for a stretch. Costantini made smart decisions to give the Vaqueros some separation, dropping over back-to-back second-touch kills to make it 11-5.
The Lady Demons kept battling and were within 15-12 before Bryant sparked a big finish for UTRGV. Bryant tabbed a solo block and dropped the hammer with her quick swing to launch a kill inside the 10-foot line for the 18-12 lead, forcing a timeout. The Vaqueros continued to attack efficiently, getting NSU out of sorts down the stretch. The Lady Demons committed three errors in the final points to aid a 25-17 set win for UTRGV.
Costantini was a force from the service line to start the third set, serving a trio of aces as UTRGV opened with a 6-0 run and caused NSU to use an early timeout. The Vaqueros attack was versatile, and after a big back row kill by Nanou and a kill by junior right side
Giovana Ribeiro off the bench, UTRGV held a comfortable 18-7 lead. Franco recorded back-to-back kills to help the Vaqueros expand their advantage to 23-9 on a 4-0 run. The Lady Demons committed a pair of service errors late to seal the sweep with a 25-21 third set for UTRGV.
The Vaqueros play again Saturday at 12 p.m. against the East Texas A&M Lions in a conference match at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Fans can purchase tickets at
UTRGVTickets.com. Students get in free with a valid student ID but will need to claim a ticket at
GoUTRGV.com/StudentTickets. A
clear bag policy is in place for all UTRGV Athletics venues.
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