RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team defeated Stephen F. Austin (SFA), 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 25-17, 25-22), for the first time since 2016 in Southland Conference (SLC) play Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in front of 1,638 energetic fans.
Julianna Bryant led UTRGV (11-7, 7-0 SLC) with a career-high 10 blocks, tied for the seventh-most in a match in program history, and added 13 kills for an impressive double-double.
Aaliyah Snead also had 13 kills and hit .476. Outside hitter
Martina Franco posted 11 kills and 11 digs for her fifth straight double-double. Setter
Lana Rnjak had 40 assists and added two aces.
Celianiz Cabranes led the defense with 18 digs, and
Carmina Tijerina chipped in a career-high 14.
The win was the 200
th at UTRGV for head coach
Todd Lowery as the Vaqueros remained the only unbeaten team in the SLC. This is UTRGV's second win against the Ladyjacks (11-9, 5-2 SLC) in 25 matches.
For SFA,
Avery Koonsen led the way with 13 kills and 13 digs.
Caroline Kahle added nine kills and a team-high 16 digs, and
Katherine Holtman also had nine kills.
Jordan Henderson paced the blockers with six blocks while hitting .357, and setters
Aniston Collins and
Madi Zorn combined for 35 assists.
SFA jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but
Jasmyn Walker and Bryant came together for a block to cap a 4-0 run by the Vaqueros. Franco broke a tie at 6-6 to start a 4-1 run capped by a setter dump from Rnjak. The Ladyjacks clawed back and took a 13-12 lead off three consecutive errors by the Vaqueros.
Three straight kills by Bryant put UTRGV back ahead before a combined block for Rnjak and Bryant put the Vaqueros up, 19-14. SFA scored following a timeout but UTRGV rattled off five in a row to reach set point and Franco tabbed the final kill for the 25-17 win.
The Ladyjacks had a strong start to Set 2, working up an 8-4 lead. The Vaqueros pulled within one, 10-9, off kills by
Soukeyna Diouf and Snead. SFA grew the lead up to 17-13 on a solo block by Kahle. UTRGV got within two, but the Ladyjacks scored seven of the last eight points to take the second set, 25-17.
Set 3 was tightly contested from the start with the score knotted at 8-8 after an ace by
Isa Bento. SFA took a 15-13 lead into the media timeout with a 3-1 run. The Vaqueros came out of the break and scored five straight with Bryant earning three block assists in the run. SFA got one back, but UTRGV went on a 7-1 run to take Set 3, 25-17.
A slew of errors on both sides kicked off the fourth set with the score settled at 6-6. The two sides exchanged kills before Bryant went right down the middle followed by an error for the Ladyjacks that made it 10-10. SFA once again went ahead by two but kills by Snead and Franco tied the match at 14-14.
Bryant took over late in the set with a kill and a block to give the Vaqueros a 17-16 advantage, their first lead in the set since 7-6. Snead put UTRGV up by two before kills by Walker and Franco made it 23-20. Snead came up with another kill for set point and Franco finished off the set, 25-22, for the match win.
The Vaqueros are back in action on Saturday for Dads & Daughters Day, presented by Driscoll against Lamar. First serve is at 12 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Fans can purchase tickets for the match at
UTRGVTickets.com. All tickets for UTRGV Athletics home events will use NFC scanning, therefore screenshots will not grant entry. Fans can save and access tickets for entry via Apple or Google Wallet or by logging into your account at
UTRGVTickets.com.
Fans are encouraged to visit
RallyTheValley.com for everything they need to know about attending home volleyball games. If you're unable to attend, the match will be streamed on
ESPN+ domestically and
Southland International for international fans.
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