Volleyball Drops Five-Set Heartbreaker to Texas Tech

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros volleyball team lost a heartbreaking five-set battle, 3-2 (21-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11), Thursday to the Texas Tech (TTU) Red Raiders in front of a program-record crowd of 2,771 at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

This is the first sellout in program history and destroys the previous best crowd of 2,176 set in Sept. 2018 the last time Texas Tech came to the Valley. The Vaqueros (4-3) will play their second match of the UTRGV Tournament at 6:30 Friday against San Francisco. Visit UTRGVTickets.com to purchase tickets for the UTRGV match or the four other contests in the tournament. A clear bag policy is in place for the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Senior outside hitter Claudia Lupescu set a career high with 25 kills on .322 hitting and tabbed her fourth double-double of the season as she added 13 digs and three aces. UTRGV had four players with double-doubles for the second time this season as senior outside hitter Ilana De Assis had 17 kills and a career-high 20 digs, sophomore outside hitter Nadine Zech had 14 kills and 10 digs, and sophomore setter Isabella Costantini dished out a career-high 60 assists with a career-high 14 digs.

Senior right side Perris Key added seven kills and three aces, while sophomore middle blocker and Harlingen High alum Julianna Bryant tabbed six kills on .417 hitting a career-high six blocks. Sophomore libero Celianiz Cabranes racked up 17 kills.

Texas Tech (6-1) was led by Mia Wesley’s 17 kills and 10 digs. Brynn Williams added 16 kills on .350 hitting and Emily Merrick had 10 kills. Libero Maddie Correa tallied 24 digs.

From the start, fueled by the incredible environment from the raucous crowd, the Vaqueros were playing with a fierce intensity. UTRGV used a 3-0 run to start the set, but Texas Tech came right back with four unanswered. The back-and-forth foreshadowed what was in store for the rest of the match.

The teams swapped two-point spurts until Lupescu started to get hot midway through the first set, sparking a 4-0 run for the 12-10 lead. Later, Lupescu ripped back-to-back massive kills and added a block to get UTRGV to set point up 24-20, and a kill from Key up the middle secured the opening frame win, 25-21.

The second set followed a similar storyline. The teams were tight early, then the Red Raiders found a rhythm midway through and held a 15-12 lead at the media timeout. Bryant got her hometown crowd all riled up as she came up big with a kill and a block to help spark a 4-0 run to put UTRGV on top, 20-19, and force a Texas Tech timeout.

Texas Tech came back with a service ace to take a 23-21 lead. With the home crowd showing great support, the Vaqueros found a way to fight back. They played solid defense and Costantini moved the ball around, and after a kill from Assis aided a 3-0 run, UTRGV was the first to reach set point up 24-23. Again, the Red Raiders fought off one set clincher, but Lupescu would not be denied. She blasted a powerful kill that sent the crowd to its feet, then served up an ace to seal it, 26-24.

Texas Tech showed its resilience and controlled Set 3, forcing the Vaqueros to scramble defensively, and by forcing them out of system they limited UTRGV’s offense. The Red Raiders led by as many as six at 17-11, but the Vaqueros battled with big swings from Zech and Assis to get within three. The Red Raiders, though, hit .343 in the frame and used that attack efficiency to hold on for a 25-21 win.

The Red Raiders kept rolling in the fourth and held a 15-8 lead midway through the frame. But the Vaqueros had no intent to go down quietly.

Key powered through the TTU block for a kill, sparking a 7-0 run that featured back-to-back kills from Assis and Lupescu’s third ace to tie the frame at 16-16. Tech responded with a 4-1 run for the 20-17 lead but UTRGV was resilient, fired up by the rowdy crowd. Bryant put down a smart tip kill, then Lupescu found fingers for an overturned call to get within 23-22. The Vaqueros fought off one set point, but Texas Tech knotted the match at 2-2 by taking the fourth, 25-23.

The Red Raiders opened up an 11-1 lead in the deciding fifth set. The Vaqueros continued to fight to the final whistle and went on a 7-0 run to get within 12-10. Key, the stoic senior captain, got things going with three aces in the stretch, and Bryant added two clutch kills from the middle. Texas Tech held on to take the frame, 15-11.