The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Volleyball Team has begun the season, but now it is time for the team to focus on the start of Western Athletic Conference play.
UTRGV will kick off WAC play on the road at 8 p.m. Thursday against Seattle University and then travel to
face Utah Valley at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Last weekend, the team hosted the UTRGV tournament, which saw Washington State University, Houston Baptist University and Texas Southern University compete at the Fieldhouse. Results were not available as of press time.
UTRGV fell 0-3 (20-25, 22-25, 24-26) in its home opener last Tuesday against Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi as part of the South Texas Showdown held at the Fieldhouse.
TAMUCC took a 7-0 lead in the first set of the match. UTRGV gained momentum and shortened the Islanders lead 6-8. The visiting team once again grasped a 17-12 lead and maintained the lead until the end of the set, finishing 25-20 in favor of the Islanders.
In the second set, UTRGV maintained a 3-3 tie with Corpus Christi, but the Islanders surfed away into a 17-8 lead. UTRGV roped its way back into the game after junior middle blocker Veronika Jandova made three kills and a block, which helped the team reach a 19-19 tie. The home team then took the reins of the game with a 21-20 lead but was short of a second set victory after the Islanders came back and won 25-22.
The third set was a close one for UTRGV. The team maintained the set tied 8-8, but Corpus Christi came back to take a 15-11 lead. Later on, junior outside hitter Sarah Cruz made a kill and helped UTRGV take the lead 20-19. UTRGV maintained the lead until the scoreboard reached 22-21. The Islanders came back and tied the set 24-24. In the end, TAMUCC took the final set 26-24.
“I think the big thing is we didn’t execute what we were supposed to do, and we just didn’t follow the game plan,” Head Coach Todd Lowery said.
