RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team opened their home slate Tuesday with a strong 3-0 (25-18, 28-26, 25-18) victory in front of a 1,208 fans at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
The Vaqueros (2-3) leaned on right side Ema Petkovic who delivered with her first-career double-double with 17 kills and a career-high 14 digs. UTRGV limited mistakes and outlasted the Tigers (0-7) who could only manage a .129 hitting percentage on the evening.
Petkovic led the Vaqueros in both kills and digs while junior outside hitter Martina Franco tallied her fifth game this season with at least 10 kills after securing her 10th of the night late in the third set. Middle blocker Jasmyn Walker only had eight attacks but finished with seven kills to give her a hitting percentage of .875 on the night. Setter Lana Rnjak collected her fourth game of at least 30 assists with 37. Freshman Dunja Stankovic had double-digit digs for the Vaqueros with 10 on the evening.
Lacey Kusnier led the Tigers with nine kills in the match with Ava Ray setting her up for most of the night and finishing with 13 assists. Kadence Davison and Lauanna Pino tied for the team lead in digs with seven each.
The Vaqueros fell behind by two early until a service ace by libero Celianiz Cabranes kicked off a run of four points capped by a kill from Petkovic. UTRGV scored 10 of the next 13 points to take a 13-7 lead and force a timeout from Texas Southern.
The Vaqueros began to pull away, capitalizing on mistakes by the Tigers and extending the lead to 18-10. Petkovic ended a late run by TSU to give UTRGV a 20-14 lead. Middle blocker and Harlingen High alum Julianna Bryant took over late in the set, earning three of the last five points as the Vaqueros took set one, 25-18.
The two sides traded points before a service ace off the net by Lauren Battle gave the Tigers some early momentum, forcing a UTRGV timeout down 9-6. Coming out of the timeout, Petkovic put the Vaqueros back on track before a solo block by Bryant tied the game at 11-11.
A 7-1 run capped by another kill by Bryant put UTRGV up 16-12 before the Tigers climbed back with a run of their own that tied the game at 17-17.
Following service errors by both sides, Petkovic blasted an ace by the Tigers' defense to bring the score to 21-19. UTRGV turned to Petkovic who smacked a ball straight through the middle of the court to make it 23-21. Three straight kills by the Tigers put the Vaqueros on the ropes, but TSU gifted two points back to UTRGV as the set would require some late heroics with the score sitting at 26-26. Tijerina would be the hero of set two with a service ace followed by a huge dig to keep the last point alive that was finished by Petkovic for a 28-26 set win.
The third set started with three runs of three points with Franco capping the 6-3 run for UTRGV with a pair of kills. Petkovic secured her first-career double-double of the season with a dig early in the third as the Vaqueros pushed ahead 9-5. Rnjak picked up her 30th assist of the match as UTRGV maintained control into the media timeout, 15-10.
Out of the timeout, Petkovic and Bryant kept the momentum going before a kill by Walker put the Vaqueros up 20-17. Walker finished off two more points as UTRGV went on to win the set 25-18 and clinch the sweep.
The Vaqueros will be back in action Thursday and Friday at the Red Raider Classic in Lubbock.
