Tonight, the UTRGV Volleyball Team’s season came to an end in the Fieldhouse after losing to two-time defending Western Athletic Conference champions Utah Valley University in the sixth match of the WAC Tournament.
In a 1,204-person, crowd-pumping first set, the Wolverines ended the set 25-22 bringing the score to 1-0.
“I didn’t think we did enough to win to be honest with you,” head coach Todd Lowery said. “I thought we played a little bit loose, especially in set one and two. I thought that we were just hesitant, you know, [with] a lot of balls that haven’t been falling lately and a lot of miscommunication calls in between people.”
While no team had control of the second set, UVU surged ahead at the end and ended the set 25-19, bringing the match to 2-0.
“I love it here and, I mean, it hurts right now,” Lowery said. “And there’s some tears in that locker room over there. But there’s a whole bunch of high character kids in there. And for me, at this point in my career, that’s what’s important. I mean, I’ll take this group of kids at two and 25. The same way I take them at 25 and two because they work. They love it. I mean, they’re sad because they care, you know.”
In a change of pace, UTRGV gained control of the third set with a wide point gap but Utah gained momentum and ended the set 27-25, ending the game 3-0.
“I think volleyball is a momentum sport,” Lowery said. “Everybody’s competitive and athletic and can fight back. We had a big lead, and then we missed a serve, and they scored a couple points. And then, like I said, we took a timeout, and I thought we came out. We responded, got right back, and then they got on a service run again without any timeouts or anything else. We just haven’t really found a way to stop the momentum. And, you know, that’s been a tough rotation for us.”
He said he had fun coaching the team.
“I’ve been fortunate,” Lowery said. “You know, a handful of national championships, conference titles [and] tournament titles. … This is honestly one of the funnest groups I’ve ever got to coach.
“I’ve gotten to coach this group of girls, and what they’ve meant to turn this program around, I mean, it wasn’t very long ago we were sitting here coming off a two-win season. And for kids to believe and to buy in like, that’s hard stuff to bounce back. I couldn’t be more happy for them and I said it’s been as fun as I could say.”
The championship match of the WAC Tournament will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in the UTRGV Fieldhouse on the Edinburg campus. For more information visit goutrgv.com.
