The UTRGV volleyball team took over sole possession of first place in the WAC Southwest Division with a 28-26, 13-25, 25-18, 25-20 win over Seattle U on Friday at Lamar’s McDonald Gym in Beaumont.
The Vaqueros (13-6, 5-1 WAC) are on a five-match winning streak and one game ahead of Sam Houston (4-2 WAC) and Stephen F. Austin (4-2), both of which were scheduled to play later Friday night, in the Southwest.
Senior Veronika Jandova led the Vaqueros with 15 kills on .500 hitting and four blocks. Sophomore Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded 14 kills on .385 hitting with three blocks. Junior Sarah Cruz recorded nine kills and nine digs. Freshman Luanna Emiliano posted her 15th double-double with 40 assists, 14 digs and four aces.
Sierra Bartley led the Redhawks (3-16, 0-8 WAC) with 16 kills and five blocks.
With UTRGV leading 16-11 during the fourth set, the Vaqueros went on a 6-0 run to double up the Redhawks at 22-11. The Redhawks followed with an 8-1 run to pull within 23-19 before a Jandova kill brought the Vaqueros to match point. One serve later, the Vaqueros won on an error.
UTRGV concludes interdivision play at 1 p.m. today against Chicago State.
