RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-13, 25-23, 19-25, 25-13) victory Thursday over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (AMCC) Islanders in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, and extended their Southland Conference (SLC) winning streak to nine matches at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of 1,081 fans.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker and Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant was the spark for UTRGV (15-7, 10-1 SLC), finishing with 13 kills on .667 hitting with three blocks. Junior outside hitter
Nadine Zech had 15 kills on .333 hitting, swinging from the right side. Freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou added 12 kills with eight digs and three aces, and junior middle blocker
Aaliyah Snead tabbed 10 kills with three blocks. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini led UTRGV with a career high tying four blocks while tallying 49 assists and 12 digs in her sixth double-double. Junior libero
Celianiz Cabranes had a match- and season-high 29 digs with three assists.
Jaeda Rawls-Fletcher paced the Islanders (9-14, 5-6 SLC) with 18 kills on .441 hitting. Libero
Brooklyn Jaeger had 28 digs.
Katelyn Krienke had nine kills on .400 hitting with four blocks.
The first set was all Vaqueros as the SLC's best offense was firing on all cylinders from the start. The opening points treated fans to competitive rallies as the teams went back-and-forth. UTRGV played disciplined volleyball and Costantini moved the ball around well among her hitters, resulting in five attackers having at least two kills in a set that saw them hit .432 with just one attack error on 37 attempts.
Snead and Zech were consistent to spark a pair of scoring runs for the Vaqueros and Cabranes anchored a gritty defensive effort with 10 digs in the opening set. Bryant took some big swings down the stretch, collecting three kills in the final six points including a sharp slide attack to reach set point. UTRGV took the set, 25-13, after a serving error by the Islanders.
Set 2 saw the teams battle and UTRGV overcome spurts by the Islanders to take a 2-0 match lead after a hard-earned 25-23 frame. UTRGV was up early after three quick kills by Zech gave it a 5-1 advantage, swinging well after shifting to the right side for this match. The Islanders stuck around, but after Nanou tooled the block and the offense continued to be multiple, the Vaqueros led, 11-9.
Corpus evened things up at 13-13, but UTRGV answered with a 3-0 run. The Islanders used their own 3-0 run to force a timeout as the teams played fast and aggressive. Zech was the go-to arm late in the set and tooled the block to get the win after Corpus fought off two set points.
The Islanders led for the first time as they opened the third set strong, forcing an early UTRGV timeout after jumping out to a 7-2 advantage. The Vaqueros, who were sharp and hit .432 and .514 in the first two sets, committed five attack errors in the third along with three missed serves. Corpus tabbed its first three blocks of the match to slow UTRGV down and took the 25-19 set win to cut the Vaqueros lead to 2-1.
Corpus Christi carried its momentum to take a 4-1 lead in the fourth, but the big serve of Nanou sparked a 4-0 run to give the Vaqueros the edge. The teams swapped scores throughout, playing an up-tempo frame with great defense and booming kills, leading to 12 ties and four lead changes in the fourth set.
Bryant, Nanou and Costantini made big plays to spark the Vaqueros when it was needed most. Costantini recorded a solo block to cap a great rally that saw both teams playing scrappy defense to take the 19-17 lead, but Corpus quickly evened things up again. The Islanders then committed three consecutive errors to help a 4-0 UTRGV run, and after kills from Snead and Nanou, the Vaqueros found themselves at match point, leading 24-22. The Islanders fought off three match points before Nanou ripped through the block on the right side to seal the win with a 25-23 frame.
UTRGV and the Islanders will play again Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Dugan Wellness Center in Corpus.
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