The Vaqueras allow a hit by the Cardinals to go out of bounds during the third set of today’s match at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. YAMILET GALVEZ/THE RIDER
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Volleyball team swept the University of the Incarnate Word 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-17) earlier today to improve their overall record to 6-4.
More than 2,000 fans attended the game as part of the “Kids Day Match,” making it the second-largest crowd in program history.
Junior outside hitter Ilana De Assis led the Vaqueras with 11 kills on .450 hitting.
Head coach Todd Lowery said today’s win reassures the team in knowing what it is capable of and liked the way it played.
“I didn’t feel like there was any kind of let up on our side,” Lowery said. “Really just constant pressure for UIW and I think a lot of that is our girls feeding off the crowd and going in there and really just rolling.”
UTRGV junior setter Luanna Emiliano ended with 29 assists, 15 digs and two kills.
Vaquera senior middle blocker Luisa Silva Dos Santos put up 10 kills on .450 hitting.
Lowery said the Vaqueras kept going after digs to put pressure on the Cardinals to cause them to make more hitting errors.
Dos Santos said seeing the crowd come out and support them was amazing.
“No words,” she said. “I was telling Luanna, I wish we had more games here because it’s insane. It’s amazing. They’re amazing.”
Asked about her connection with Dos Santos, Emiliano said she had known the middle blocker for many years.
“I think it’s just natural,” she said. “We don’t just come here and try to make this connection. It’s just something that is day in, day out. … We like to play together, enjoy the time we have together, so I just think it comes with everything else.”
Emiliano said she feels the team still has room to grow and is excited to play in the upcoming California games.
Lowery said the upcoming games in California will be against teams with good ball control.
“It’ll be our job to see if we could take what we did today and go apply that against someone that’s got a little bit more length on the outside,” he said.
Cardinal senior outside hitter Allison Palmi put up six kills on .143 hitting.
The Vaqueras are set to play three away games against:
–California State University, Northridge at 1 p.m. Friday
–University of San Francisco at 8 p.m. Friday
–and San Jose State University at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The first Western Athletic Conference game will be away on Sept. 21 against The University of Texas at Arlington.
