RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The legend of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball head coach
Todd Lowery grew a little more Thursday as his Vaqueros captured an electric 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24) victory over the UIW Cardinals in a Southland Conference (SLC) match in front of 1,047 fans at the UTRGV Fieldhouse for his 600
th career win.
The victory extends UTRGV's (17-7, 12-1 SLC) streak to 11 matches, which ties the program record for most consecutive wins. Sophomore outside hitter
Martina Franco paced the offense with 20 kills and had 15 digs for her fourth double-double. Freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou had another huge match, recording 19 kills with nine digs and two aces. Senior right side
Valentina Sarti Cipriani added 11 kills and had three blocks. Junior middle blocker
Aaliyah Snead tabbed a career-high tying six blocks. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini had her seventh double-double with 52 assists, 15 digs, three aces and three kills. Junior libero
Celianiz Cabranes finished with 27 digs and three assists.
Four UIW (13-12, 9-4 SLC) players reached double-digit kills.
Kyla Malone had 19 kills on .375 hitting,
Finley Evans and
Kitana Tu'ufuli had 11 each, and
Vanessa Eregie added 10. Evans and Tu'ufuli had double-doubles as they added 13 and 17 digs, respectively.
Ashton Rogers had 23 digs and nine assists and
Calissa Allison totaled 44 assists with 17 digs.
The first set was an outright battle from the first serve. The Cardinals opened an early three-point lead, but the Vaqueros rallied back with sharp hitting and took an 11-9 lead as Nanou mixed her power and off-speed touch and Costantini served an ace. UIW evened things up at 20-20 as its offense picked up steam, then both teams played determined defense to treat fans to long, exciting rallies as they exchanged scores.
UTRGV got to set point as redshirt sophomore Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant won a joust on the net, but the Cardinals took back-to-back points to once again knot the set at 24-24. Nanou recorded her ninth kill of the frame to give the edge back to the Vaqueros, and a big block by Snead and Costantini secured the set win, 26-24.
Set 2 started with a similar script as the Cardinals jumped out to a 5-1 lead. The Vaqueros responded with six unanswered points and got on a roll as the block was active and the heavy-hitting duo of Franco and Nanou smartly mixed their cut shots and tips to get on top, 14-11.
Rallies continued to lengthen as both defenses were playing fast as the teams battled in the second half of the frame. The Cardinals used a 3-0 run and a lot of swings from Tu'ufuli to build up a 21-19 lead. UTRGV answered again as Franco found the deep corner and the Cardinals committed back-to-back attack errors, giving the Vaqueros a 23-22 advantage and forcing a UIW timeout. The Cardinals closed the frame with a block and an ace to tie the set at 1-1 with a 25-23 second set.
It was UTRGV's turn to start strong in the third, and it was helped by some unforced UIW errors. Costantini made a highlight-worthy play on a tight serve-receive, dumping the second touch over behind her head for the kill to keep things tied at 9-9. The Cardinals used a good block and a gritty back row defense to limit UTRGV's usually efficient offense and opened up a 17-14 lead following a block.
Franco was the catalyst of the comeback late in the third set. She was soaring on her approach, leading to her putting down booming kills and send the Cardinals scrambling. Costantini served an ace to give the Vaqueros a lead late, then Franco powered through the double block to reach set point. A Cardinals error secured the 25-23 set win, putting UTRGV up 2-1 in the match.
Set 4 was electric as the teams went back-and-forth in the crucial frame. Snead got in the mix to spark the Vaqueros early, putting down a sharp-angled kill and scoring on the slide. The Cardinals found success with the off-speed attack, putting down tips to even the set at 10-10 and then to open up a 19-15 lead. Cipriani upped her production in the fourth and used a tip behind the block to ignite a run for the Vaqueros. Junior defensive specialist
Isa Bento served an ace and Franco ripped back-to-back kills to the center of the court to bring the match to a 19-19 tie after UIW had opened a four-point lead, forcing a Cardinals timeout.
UTRGV's scoring run continued as Bento recorded a second ace and her tough serve forced the Cardinals to an attack error, building a 21-19 lead after six unanswered points. Costantini and Bryant combined for a massive block that sent the home crowd into a frenzy and put the Vaqueros two points away.
UIW didn't go down quietly and cut the deficit to one before a service error got the Vaqueros to match point at 24-22. The Cardinals fought off two match points and brought the set to 24-24 before Nanou launched a determined kill that ricocheted back across the net to reach match point again at 25-24. A UIW attack error sealed UTRGV's win.
The Vaqueros will play the last home match of the regular season Saturday at 12 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse against Houston Christian University. 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. The match is themed as Honoring Our Veterans and veterans will receive free admission with a valid ID.
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