Texas Border Business
ST. GEORGE, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the Dixie State University Trailblazers 0-3 (19-25, 23-25, 14-25) on Tuesday at Burns Arena.
Junior Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueros (0-4, 0-2 WAC) with seven kills and six digs. Graduate student Mackenzie Coates posted a team-high 16 assists with nine digs. Senior Samaret Caraballo recorded a team-high 17 digs.
Kate Hardy led the Trailblazers (3-2, 2-2 WAC) with 17 kills and nine blocks. Megan Treanor recorded a triple-double with 15 kills, 12 assists, 12 digs and six blocks.
A Cruz kill helped the Vaqueros jump out to a 3-2 lead in the first set. The Trailblazers scored five of the next six points and went up 9-6 before the Vaqueros went on a 4-1 run to tie the set at 10 on an ace by senior Veronika Jandova. Six serves later, with the set tied at 13, the Trailblazers went on a 9-1 run to go up 22-14. The Vaqueros answered with four-straight points to pull within 18-22 on a kill by sophomore Ioanna Charitonidi, but that’s as close as they got.
The Vaqueros led 6-3 to start the second set. The Trailblazers and Vaqueros then traded 5-0 runs, with the Vaqueros going up 11-8. The Trailblazers scored the next three points to tie the set, but the Vaqueros scored three of the next four, going up 14-12 on a Cruz kill. The Trailblazers responded with a 6-1 run to take the lead before the Vaqueros came back to tie the set at 20 on an ace by freshman Ada Bulgur. The Trailblazers won the next two serves and then the two teams traded points, with the Vaqueros pulling to within 23-24 on an error. Treanor followed with a kill to end the set.
The Trailblazers jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third set. Then, with the score 10-4, the Vaqueros went on an 8-2 run, capped by a Jandova ace, to tie the set at 12. Two serves later, with the set tied at 13, however, the Trailblazers scored 10-straight points as part of a 12-1 run to end the match.
UTRGV competes in its home opening series on Monday at 6 p.m. and Tuesday at 12 p.m. against New Mexico State at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. UTRGV Athletics is capping capacity at the UTRGV Fieldhouse at 231 fans. Single-match tickets can be purchased online at UTRGVTickets.com. Tickets for Monday’s game must be purchased by 12 p.m. Monday while tickets for Tuesday’s game must be purchased by Monday at 5. Doors open one hour prior to each match. For more information about match day, visit GoUTRGV.com/game-day.
Fans can also watch for free online at WACDigitalNetwork.com.
