PEORIA, Illinois – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team dropped its second match of the CEFCU Invitational to the Lindenwood Lions, 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-20), Friday at the Renaissance Coliseum in Peoria, Illinois.
Right side
Ema Petkovic and middle blocker
Soukeyna Diouf each led UTRGV with nine kills, with Diouf hitting .389. Outside hitter
Martina Franco added seven kills, and
Julianna Bryant chipped in with four. Setter
Lana Rnjak dished out 25 assists while defensive specialist
Celianiz Cabranes collected a season-high 19 digs.
For Lindenwood,
Ashley Geluck led the way with 11 kills and two solo blocks, while
Autumn Bax had 12 kills and zero errors with a .545 hitting percentage.
Susanna Beretti added eight kills, and setter
Kaci Johnson dished out 38 assists.
Dana Grib paced the Lions' defense with 15 digs.
Lindenwood jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set and did not look back. The Vaqueros clawed within two at 16-14 on back-to-back kills from Franco and Bryant. Lindenwood closed the set on a 9-1 run, capped by a Grib ace and attack errors by the Vaqueros, to win it 25-16.
The Lions jumped out to a 18-11 lead in the second. The Vaqueros answered with a five-point run with back-to-back kills by Diouf and an ace from senior
Sujeili Mermella to pull within two, 21-19. However, Lindenwood closed out the set with a 4-0 run to take it 25-19.
The third set started with another run by the Lions who were quickly ahead 8-3. An ace from Petkovic and a kill from Bryant kept UTRGV within striking distance. Consecutive kills by
Lauren Ortwerth started a run that gave Lindenwood a 20-15 advantage. The Vaqueros would stave off three match points but a kill by Beretti secured the match with a 25-10 third set.
UTRGV returns to action at 11 a.m. on Saturday against New Mexico State for its final match of the tournament.
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