RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team powered past the East Texas A&M (ETAMU) Lions Saturday in a Southland Conference (SLC) match, capturing their second consecutive sweep in a 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-17) win at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Junior outside hitter
Nadine Zech recorded her second double-double of the season to lead UTRGV (8-7, 3-1 SLC) with 11 kills on .375 hitting with 10 digs. Junior middle blocker and Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant and senior right side
Valentina Sarti Cipriani had seven kills each while Bryant also tabbed a match-high four blocks. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini had 26 assists, six digs, four kills and three aces. Junior libero
Celianiz Cabranes recorded 13 digs and helped anchor a solid defense that held East Texas A&M to .115 hitting.
Gracie Campbell led the Lions (3-12, 1-3 SLC) with 11 kills.
Jade Washington had a match-high 15 digs and
Haley Mullaney dished out 19 assists.
Serving played a key role in the opening set. UTRGV was aggressive at the service line and recorded six aces, with two each from Costantini and freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou. The Lions, on the other hand, committed five service errors and struggled in serve-receive, preventing them from running their offense and feeding the Vaqueros free balls that turned into swift kills. UTRGV served four aces in its final nine points, including two from Costantini as part of a 6-0 run, to take the set, 25-11.
The Vaqueros kept the serving momentum rolling to open Set 2, dropping a pair of aces and forcing the Lions out of system. Junior middle blocker
Aaliyah Snead and Bryant both notched kills on overpasses as the Lions couldn't corral tough serves to open up an 8-3 lead. ETAMU didn't go down quietly and used a couple of small runs to make it close and stay within two points of the Vaqueros down the stretch. But Zech and junior defensive specialist
Isa Bento sparked a 6-0 run to get UTRGV in control and Costantini secured the 25-17 set win and 2-0 match lead with a smart setter dump on the final rally.
Set 3 started slow due to a couple of lengthy errors, but the Vaqueros and Lions kept the energy high with a dance battle on the sideline. They battled on the court, too, as ETAMU found a response each time UTRGV opened up a bit of a cushion to keep things tight with the Vaqueros holding a slim 13-12.
Bryant and Zech fired up the Vaqueros in a dominant close to the third set. The pair combined to score four consecutive points with sharp kills and a block for Bryant and Costantini, putting UTRGV up 20-14. Nanou dropped back-to-back kills late and Cipriani tabbed the final kill to take the third set, 25-17, and win the match.
Cabranes and Co. were sharp defensively down the stretch, getting electric digs to keep rallies alive and passing extremely well to help the offense run efficiently.
UTRGV's next match is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Incarnate Word.
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