2
UTRGV UTRGV 1-3,0-0 Southland
3
Winner UTEP UTEP 4-1,0-0 Mountain West
UTRGV UTRGV
1-3,0-0 Southland
2
Final
3
UTEP UTEP
4-1,0-0 Mountain West
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
UTRGV UTRGV 25 23 21 25 9 (2)
UTEP UTEP 21 25 25 20 15 (3)
Final | UTRGV Volleyball | UTRGV 2, UTEP 3

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Volleyball Battles in Five-Set Loss to UTEP; Franco, Petkovic Named All-Tournament

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team battled in a back-and-forth 3-2 loss (21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 20-25, 15-9) to the UTEP Miners Saturday to complete the Southwest Showdown at the Dugan Wellness Center in Corpus Christi. 
 
Outside hitter Martina Franco and right side Ema Petkovic were both named to the All-Tournament Team after leading the Vaqueros (1-3) to a 1-1 weekend. In Saturday's match, Petkovic finished with career-highs of 18 kills and seven aces while adding nine digs and three blocks. Franco had 11 kills with four digs. Middle blocker and Harlingen High alum Julianna Bryant added another 11 kills with five blocks and three digs. Setter Lana Rnjak dished out a career-high 39 assists with five digs and four kills. Libero Dunja Stankovic led UTRGV with 10 digs while defensive specialist and Brownsville St. Joseph alum Carmina Tijerina had a career-high six digs. 
 
Mackenzie Davis led UTEP with 16 kills on .500 hitting and had four blocks. Lauren Perry added 10 kills with four aces and two blocks. 
 
The teams swapped 3-0 scoring runs to open the first set. Petkovic served a pair of aces to start the match, then Bryant tabbed a kill and two unforced errors by UTEP put the Vaqueros up, 6-3. A 9-1 run flipped the frame back in favor of the Miners, who were sharp offensively to take a 12-7 lead. 
 
UTRGV's mental toughness from Friday's match came through again midway through the opening frame against UTEP. Petkovic recorded a kill and a block with senior middle blocker Aaliyah Snead to create some momentum for the Vaqueros, then another two errors by UTEP pulled the set even at 13-13. The squads swapped points on kills to a 21-20 lead for the Miners. UTRGV scored four in a row to take the set, 25-21, behind tough serving by Cabranes. 
 
Set 2 followed a similar script. Petkovic got things started with an ace and UTRGV took a slim 6-4 lead after a setter kill by Rnjak. The Miners were the first to string points together, using a 4-0 run aided by a block to jump on top, 8-6. Petkovic tabbed back-to-back kills and combined with Bryant on a block to assist another scoring run behind the serving of Celianiz Cabranes to give the edge back to UTRGV, 11-9. 
 
The Vaqueros claimed their largest lead of the second set at 18-13 following a block and kill by Snead. The final points of the frame were a battle. UTEP scored three in a row to take a one-point lead behind its net presence, then Petkovic ripped a pair of kills to build UTRGV's lead back to three, forcing a UTEP timeout at 21-18. The Miners used a 7-2 swing out of the timeout to take the back-and-forth set, 25-23, and even the match at 1-1. 
 
Petkovic's big serve got the Vaqueros off to a good start again in the third set. An early 3-0 run backed by a block gave the Vaqueros a 6-4 lead. The teams exchanged 3-0 runs as they battled on the net and kept their attacks versatile. Petkovic and Bryant tabbed consecutive kills to give UTRGV a 14-11 lead before a 7-0 run by the Miners filled the frame and had the Vaqueros trailing by four. UTRGV fought off two set points behind a kill by Franco and a solo block by Bryant, but UTEP took the 2-1 lead with a 25-21 set win. 
 
Fighting to extend the match, the Vaqueros came out hot in the fourth. They jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead as Petkovic's serving prowess and a solid net presence forced the Miners to commit a slew of errors. As UTEP settled in, it closed the gap to three points with a 5-1 scoring run backed by an ace and a crisp attack. Following three consecutive UTRGV attack errors, UTEP took its first lead and held a 15-13 advantage at the media timeout. 
 
UTRGV closed the fourth set strong carried by the reliable trio Bryant, Franco and Petkovic. Bryant tabbed back-to-back kills before Franco added another to pull UTRGV ahead, 20-18, and force a UTEP timeout. Petkovic then recorded two aces in a row to aid a 5-0 run. Franco and Bryant put down the final three points via kills for the 25-20 set win, pushing the Vaqueros to their first fifth set of the young season. 
 
The Miners jumped out early in the fifth to a 5-2 lead before the Vaqueros knotted things up at 6-6 behind a block and kill by Bryant. UTEP called a timeout after the 3-0 Vaqueros run and came out of the break with a 4-0 stretch to put the Vaqueros on their heels. Freshman Soukeyna Diouf dropped two consecutive kills to get within 12-9.
 
UTRGV will play its first home match of the season Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against Texas Southern at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in an Orange Out match. 

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