Texas Border Business
LUBBOCK, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team won the first two sets against the Texas Tech Red Raiders before ultimately falling 2-3 (25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 21-25, 13-15) to close out the Red Raider Classic on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena.
Senior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (11-3) with 24 kills, seven digs and one ace. Sophomore Claudia Lupescu posted 14 kills and two blocks. Sophomore Margherita Giani recorded 12 kills on .400 hitting and three blocks. Junior Luisa Silva Dos Santos posted 11 six kills on .444 hitting and three aces. Sophomore Luanna Emiliano dished out 50 assists with 18 digs for her 10th double-double. Junior Regina Tijerina finished with 19 digs, six assists and three aces.
Regan Cooper led the Red Raiders (11-2) with 17 kills and two blocks. Kenna Sauer recorded 14 kills, 11 digs and two blocks. Karrington Jones finished with 14 kills and six blocks. Brooke Kansas posted 10 kills and seven blocks.
Giani recorded a pair of early kills to help the Vaqueros jump out to a 3-1 lead in the first set. Two serves later, with the score tied at 3, a Giani block sparked a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 8-4. The Red Raiders answered with a 14-5 run to go up 18-13. Two servers later, with the score 19-14, a pair of Cruz kills helped the Vaqueros pull within two. The Red Raiders won the next two serves. Then, after a UTRGV timeout, the Vaqueros went on a 5-0 run, capped by a Cruz kill, to take a 22-21 lead. Three serves later, with the score tied at 23, a Giani kill brought the Vaqueros to set point and an attack error ended the set.
The Vaqueros picked up right where they left off in set two as the first point was on a Cruz kill. The Red Raiders scored the next three points to take the lead and led again at 4-3. Kills by Giani and Lupescu gave the Vaqueros a 5-4 lead. One serve later, another Lupescu kill gave the Vaqueros a 6-5 lead. The Red Raiders followed with a 4-1 run, but down 10-11, the Vaqueros went on a 5-1 run, capped by a Tijerina ace, to take a 15-12 lead. The Red Raiders scored the next three points to tie the set. Then, with the scored tied at 16, a Lupescu kill and back-to-back aces and a kill by junior Ioanna Charitonidi gave the Vaqueros a 20-16 lead. The Red Raiders scored the next four points to pull even before a Cruz kill put the Vaqueros up 21-20. The Vaqueros went up 22-21 on another Cruz kill and 24-22 on back-to-back errors. Then, with the set tied at 24, an error gave the Vaqueros set point and a Cruz kill ended the set.
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 4-3 lead on a Key kill in the third set. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 6-4 on a Lupescu kill. The Red Raiders responded with four-straight points to take the lead. The Vaqueros tied the set at 8 on a Lupescu kill and 9 on a Santos kill before another 4-0 run put the Red Raiders up 13-9. After a timeout, four Giani kills powered an 8-3 run to put the Vaqueros up 17-16. The Red Raiders responded with a 6-2 run to go up 22-19. The Vaqueros got as close as 22-23 on an error before the Red Raiders won the final two serves.
Up 5-4 early in set four, Cruz and Santos each came up with two kills to power a 5-1 run to put the Vaqueros up 10-5. The Red Raiders responded with a 4-1 run before a Cruz kill sparked a 4-0 run to give the Vaqueros a 15-9 lead. Then, with the Vaqueros up 16-10, the Red Raiders scored four-straight points as part of a 9-2 run to take a 19-18 lead. A Santos kill tied the set at 19, but the Red Raiders scored six of the final eight points to force a fifth set.
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a Giani kill in set five. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 7-3 on a block by Giani and Lupescu. The Red Raiders used a 4-1 run to pull within 7-8 before a Lupescu kill put the Vaqueros up 9-7. The Vaqueros led 12-10 on a Cruz kill when the Red Raiders won four-straight serves to reach match point. Cruz answered with a kill before a Cooper kill ended the match.
UTRGV closes out non-conference play on Monday at 8 p.m. at UTEP.
