SAN ANTONIO –The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team rolled in the Southland Conference (SLC) spotlight match of the Thursday night slate, going into the McDermott Center and handing the Incarnate Word (UIW) Cardinals their first loss of the conference season behind a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) sweep.
Junior outside hitter
Nadine Zech led the resounding UTRGV (9-7, 4-1 SLC) effort with her third double-double of the season, recording 15 kills on .382 hitting with 15 digs and two blocks. Freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou had 14 kills on .324 hitting with seven digs. Junior middle blocker
Aaliyah Snead added nine kills on .667 hitting. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini dished out 39 assists and had nine digs, four assisted blocks and two kills. Junior libero
Celianiz Cabranes had a match-high 16 digs, four assists and two aces.
Finley Evans and
Kitana Tu'ufuli had eight kills each for Incarnate Word (8-9, 4-1 SLC).
Calissa Allison and
Victoria Hall both recorded 12 assists while
Ashton Rogers and Allison had 12 and 11 digs, respectively.
The match started competitive and both teams committed some uncharacteristic errors early as the energy was ramped up from first serve. UTRGV found the first bit of separation as the block put pressure on UIW's attackers and the back row defense was sharp. Zech capped a long rally with a nice back row kill and Nanou added a back row tip to force a Cardinals timeout with a 14-11 lead.
UIW responded to get within one, but Zech showed her massive swing and tabbed a block to fire up the Vaqueros. UTRGV was scrappy defensively and left the Cardinals on their heels as they sold out on every play. Costantini got up to record a solo block in the middle and the Vaqueros were efficient on the attack to close out the set strong, winning it 25-20.
The Vaqueros continued to play hard in the second set and opened up a 5-2 lead after a block by Zech and redshirt sophomore middle blocker and Harlingen High alum
Julianna. UTRGV's defense gave the Cardinals fits throughout the second frame, causing UIW to turn to the tip and commit attack errors as they tried but failed to find a hole. The Vaqueros held UIW to .156 hitting as they took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-19 set win. Zech continued to hammer the ball on the outside but Costantini also mixed up the hitters well. UTRGV hit .356 in the frame.
Set 3 was filled with small scoring runs and ties as the two teams battled in the critical set. The Vaqueros were the first to extend the lead past two points as Nanou served an ace and Snead tabbed two kills to make it 14-11. But UIW answered the run to even the frame again at 14-14.
The Vaqueros found another level to close out the match. They went on a 4-0 run as Costantini and Bryant combined for a block and the defense continued to force the Cardinals out of system. Again, the Cardinals cut the deficit, but UTRGV did a good job of settling down during a timeout and coming out sharp. Cabranes and Junior defensive specialist
Isa Bento headlined an exciting, scrappy defense that created momentum late. Zech tabbed a big kill and an ace to help the Vaqueros create some distance, then senior serving specialist and Sharyland Pioneer alum
Natalie Reyes served an ace to seal the victory, 25-20.
The Vaqueros will be back in action Saturday at 1 p.m. at Houston Christian.
