Going the distance
UTRGV wins marathon five-setter against Corpus
By HENRY MILLER
Staff Writer
EDINBURG — Sarah Cruz blasted a career-high 30 kills and UTRGV overcame a 2-1 set deficit to rally and defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Vaqueros’ home opener as part of the South Texas Showdown on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV improved to 3-1 on the season with the marathon 25-23, 24-26, 31-33, 25-17, 15-9 victory.
UTRGV lost the third set 33-31 in what was the highest-scoring single set in program history. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to 0-4 on the season.
“I think we forgot about that third set from the beginning of the fourth set and just tried to focus on our game,” Cruz said. “We tried to stay focused on not what just happened but what was about to happen.”
Middle-hitter Luisa Silva Dos Santos recorded 17 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, many of those kills coming in the final two sets. Her dominance in the closing sets opened the gates for Cruz and Ingridy Foltran, who ended the night with 14 kills.
“In the first set, we were kind of nervous being the first game at home,” Santos said, referring to a crowd of more than 1,900, the second-largest home crowd in program history. “I knew I needed to help and play my game, and not think about anything else other than I need to help and wanted to take pressure off Sarah.
“I think when she started to pound the ball and score on almost every single ball that she got, it really opened and gave me a little more space on the outside and took a little more of the stress I had over there. When she started to score, the communication was better, too.”
Sophomore setter Luana Emiliano contributed 72 of the Vaqueros’ 73 assists.
Leah Stolfus and Kyndal Payne each tallied 16 kills to pace the Islanders.
The Vaqueros improved their attack game throughout the match. Their hitting percentage was 54% during the first set, 60% in the second, 63% in third, 76% in the fourth and 77% in the final set.
UTRGV returns home Sept. 9 against Montana, which features former Mission Veterans standout Jackie Howell.
