Texas Border Business
RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team clinched the No. 4 seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament by beating the Chicago State University Cougars 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-13) on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV (14-16, 8-8 WAC) opens the WAC Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 5 seed and host Utah Valley (10-18, 7-9 WAC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the semifinals against top-seed New Mexico State (25-3, 16-0 WAC) on Friday at 7. The championship match is set for Saturday at 8.
Sophomore Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros with 13 kills and five digs. Senior Barbara Silva recorded 11 kills on .455 hitting. Senior Paulina Ramirezrecorded eight digs with a career-high three aces. Junior Debora Nazariodished out 32 assists with eight digs and two aces.
Isadora Sisic led the Cougars (5-26, 1-15 WAC) with five kills.
Kills by Silva, senior McAllen Memorial alum Draik Banks, and freshman Victoire Nama helped the Vaqueros jump out to a 10-2 lead in the first set. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 17-8 on a Nama kill and then again led by nine at 22-13. On set point, Oliveira came up with a kill to end the set.
The Vaqueros trailed 5-6 in the second set before back-to-back Cruz kills sparked a 4-0 run to give the Vaqueros the lead. The Cougars got as close as two, including at 14-16. Cruz recorded kills on three of the next four serves as part of a 6-1 run to push the set out of reach.
The third set was tied at 5 before a kill and two aces by Nama gave the Vaqueros the lead. Then, with the score 9-8, back-to-back Cruz kills launched a 14-3 run to put the Vaqueros up 23-11. Two serves later, an error gave the Vaqueros match point and a Cruz kill ended the match.
