Texas Border Business
CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team dropped its second match of the day, 0-3 (23-25, 15-25, 18-25) to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders as part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, on Friday at Dugan Wellness Center.
The Vaqueros’ (0-2) lead over the Islanders (1-0) in the showdown standings is now 12-3.
Senior Samaret Caraballo led the Vaqueros with nine kills and 11 digs. Senior Veronika Jandova recorded eight kills and two blocks.
Rachel Young led the Islanders with 11 kills on .417 hitting.
The first set was tight early, with the Vaqueros going up 12-11 on a Jandova kill. The Islanders responded by scoring the next six points to take the lead. The Islanders took their largest leads at 19-13 and 22-16. That’s when a kill and an ace by freshman Ada Bulgur helped the Vaqueros score three-straight points to pull to within 19-22. The Islanders reached match point for the first time at 24-19. A kill and an ace by junior Sarah Cruz helped the Vaqueros to make the score 23-24 before a Young kill ended the set.
The Islanders jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set. The closest the Vaqueros got was 5-8, but the Islanders responded with a 12-5 run to push the set out of reach.
The third set was tight early, with the Vaqueros tying the score at 6 on a kill by senior Debora Nazario. The Vaqueros were within one on a Caraballo kill that made the score 8-9 before the Islanders won three-straight serves as part of a 6-2 run to go up 15-11. A Bulgur kill brought the Vaqueros back to within three, and another Bulgur kill later made the score 14-18, but that’s as close as the Vaqueros got.
UTRGV’s next scheduled match is the Western Athletic Conference opener on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. at Dixie State.
The next events of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. when the cross country teams compete at the UIW Invitational.
