SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team had a good week at home, earning a pair of dominant sweeps over Northwestern State and East Texas A&M.
Now, the Vaqueros (8-7, 3-1 Southland Conference) are taking that momentum on the road to face a pair of teams that are currently unbeaten in conference play. Up first, UTRGV will play at Incarnate Word (8-8, 4-0 SLC) at 6 p.m. Thursday at the McDermott Center. The Vaqueros are looking forward to the rematch after the Cardinals knocked them out of the SLC Tournament first round in 2024.
Head-to-Head History
• UTRGV is 17-8 all-time against Incarnate Word in a series dating back to 1982.
• The Vaqueros have dominated the matchup over the last 10 years, winning a series-best seven consecutive matches with four consecutive sweeps before UIW defeated UTRGV, 3-1, in Nov. 2024 in the quarterfinals of the SLC Tournament.
• The Vaqueros swept the season series in 2024, winning 3-0 in both regular season matches.
Last Time Out
• UTRGV went 2-0 during Week 2 of the conference season. The Vaqueros earned their second consecutive and third overall SLC sweep Saturday with a 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-17) win over the East Texas A&M Lions. Junior outside hitter
Nadine Zech paced the offense with 11 kills on .375 hitting and had 10 digs for her second double-double. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini dished out 26 assists, served three aces, and had four kills with six digs in another all-around effort. Junior libero
Celianiz Cabranes had 13 digs. Five different Vaqueros served aces, including three from freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou, as the squad served nine total. UTRGV's tough serving gave the Lions fits and forced them out of system early and often, leading to the Vaqueros holding ETAMU to a .115 hitting percentage. UTRGV started the week with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) win over Northwestern State, using a sharp offensive attack and a season-best .438 hitting percentage in the one-sided win. Senior right side
Valentina Sarti Cipriani had her second consecutive error-free match, leading all players with 10 kills on .769 hitting. Junior middle blocker
Julianna Bryant added eight kills while Nanou and junior middle blocker
Aaliyah Snead both tabbed six. Costantini had 34 assists and a career-high tying five aces. The Vaqueros held Northwestern State to .077 hitting. Cipriani's performance put her in the program record books. Her .769 hitting percentage is the fourth-highest single match clip in UTRGV history.
• The Cardinals also went 2-0 last week with a pair of 3-0 wins over Nicholls and McNeese. UIW hit .417 in the 25-14, 25-17, 25-18 win over Nicholls and used eight blocks to hold the Colonels to .118 hitting. Saturday against McNeese,
Kitana Tu'ufuli had 15 kills on .481 hitting to lead UIW to a 25-21, 25-13, 25-13 win.
Complete match notes can be found here:
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