Sophomore outside hitter Loanna Charitonidi strikes the ball as Miner defenders attempt to block it tonight at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg. UTRGV fell 3-1 to the University of Texas at El Paso Miners. OMAR E. ZAPATA/THE RIDER PHOTOS
The UTRGV Volleyball team lost a hard-fought, four-set game against the University of Texas at El Paso tonight at the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg in front of a crowd of 1,238.
The Vaqueras fell to the Miners 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 23-25, 24-26), with the last two sets coming down to nail-biting last efforts from UTRGV.
UTRGV’s record now stands at 8-5 while UTEP’s is 11-2.
Todd Lowery, UTRGV Volleyball head coach, said it was a fun game and thought the team came out on fire for Set 1.
Lowery said when the team was able to stay in system, they scored points and played great defense.
He said taking Set 1 with a five-point cushion showed the team can play at a high level when it stays locked in and focused.
“I think when they kind of punched us in the mouth in the second set, I thought we got a little tentative with everything,” he said.
UTRGV would drop the next three Sets to the Miners.
“And then they really just started doing whatever they wanted to do on their offense,” Lowery said about UTEP. “They have three people attacking at all times and when their setters stand in the middle of the court with a perfect pass, they have a lot of kids to stop.”
Asked what Lowery told his team going into Set 4, he replied they had to get back to a sense of urgency with their backs against the wall.
“We had to focus in and play the way that we did in Set 1 and just basically leave everything on the line,” he said. “And I thought they stepped up the defensive intensity a little bit, and scrambled and made plays and hung in, you know, a little bit better, and I thought we served it really well in Set 4.”
UTEP head coach Ben Wallis told The Rider that he scheduled this game against UTRGV to have a hard-fought game before starting conference play and it was exactly what he got.
Wallis said the Vaqueras played hard throughout the game but his team played harder to get those last couple of points to put away Sets 3 and 4.
“Our setters were able to find our middles and Serena Patterson, one of our best players, if not our best attacker, struggled tonight,” he said. “And that’s what we talk about a lot in the locker room. Can you have a team when your best player struggles offensively? Can you still find a way to win? And our middles, we relied on them a lot tonight.”
Junior outside hitter Sarah Cruz led the Vaqueras with 16 kills, eight digs, three blocks , two aces and 20 points.
The Miners were led by junior middle blocker Yasso Amin with 15 kills, eight digs, six blocks and 18 points.
Sophomore right-side hitter Maria Eduarda Rodrigues said she was happy to play for the first time in 12 games and couldn’t wait to be back.
Lowery said the team has been waiting for her to be back in the lineup, which gives them more length on the block on the outside and allows for different blocking schemes.
Rodrigues recorded 10 kills, three blocks and 11.5 points.
“I’m really happy with our team,” Rodrigues said. “I can see every day we’re getting better and better.”
She said the crowd was great tonight and had goosebumps from the energy.
“It was so great to have this support,” Rodrigues said. “I love it.”
UTRGV will start Western Athletic Conference play against Stephen F. Austin State University at 2 p.m. Saturday in the UTRGV Fieldhouse in Edinburg.
“I think we match up a little bit better with them,” Lowery said. “I think the athleticism and the arms may be swinging back to our side a little bit. They have one gun. I feel like we have two or three.”
