RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team played in front of 2,014 fans Thursday in the home opener against Texas State – the fifth-largest crowd in program history – and fell, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20), in its first match of the Southwest Showdown at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Sophomore outside hitter
Martina Franco paced UTRGV (1-3) with 16 kills and had six digs. Junior middle blocker and Harlingen High alum
Julianna Bryant had a career-high 10 kills with four blocks. Junior setter
Isabella Costantini tabbed her second double-double with 41 assists and 11 digs. Senior right side
Valentina Sarti Cipriani and freshman outside hitter
Dimitra Nanou finished with eight kills each.
Samantha Wunsch led Texas State (2-1) with 20 kills on .359 hitting and had 12 digs and five blocks.
Brooke Bentke and
Bailey Hanner recorded 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while
Anna Blaine dished out 43 assists.
The crowd was electric as the Vaqueros made their return to the Fieldhouse court, and the team used that energy to its best set of the season. UTRGV used six blocks to hold Texas State to .000 hitting and controlled play on the net. Nanou had a big set, leading the Vaqueros with four kills on .444 hitting. She combined with Bryant on a block then slammed home a kill to give UTRGV the edge at 15-9.
After an ace by junior defensive specialist
Isa Bento and a hard back row attack to beat the block by Franco, the Vaqueros found themselves up 24-18. The Bobcats fought off a pair of set points, but Franco dropped an off-speed touch behind the block to cap a long rally and secure the 25-20 set win.
Texas State responded well in the second to maintain a small lead, but the set was tight with the largest difference being just three points through the first 29 serves. The Bobcats used a 4-0 run and back-to-back aces by Bentke to force a UTRGV timeout with the Vaqueros trailing, 18-13. The Vaqueros regrouped and scored four in a row and got within 20-18 as Nanou slammed through the Bobcats block twice on the outside. Texas State's up-tempo play carried the Bobcats late as they evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 set win.
The Bobcats took control of the fourth set early and jumped on top in the match with a 25-17 win. They notched four blocks in the frame and challenged UTRGV from the service line. Bryant recorded six kills in the set and trimmed UTRGV's deficit late, but Texas State closed it on a 4-0 run.
UTRGV opened up a 5-0 lead in the fourth with two kills from Franco and an ace by Costantini. Cabranes and Bento showed their athleticism on the defensive end and Nanou ripped a kill on a back row attack to create a lot of momentum early for the Vaqueros. Costantini tabbed another ace for the 13-9 lead, but Texas State responded and knotted the frame at 14-14 with a kill from the right side after a long rally. Cipriani scored on two consecutive swings for UTRGV to keep things close, then the Bobcats noticeably shifted the energy in the gym. Texas State went on a 9-2 run that featured two blocks and a few forced attack errors to open up a 21-16 lead and rode the wave to a 25-20 set win to put the match away.
UTRGV wraps up the Southwest Showdown Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a match against UTEP. 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.
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