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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The 2025 volleyball edition of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union, was all about The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) as the Vaqueros secured the season sweep with a comeback 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 15-9) victory Saturday over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (AMCC) Islanders at the Dugan Wellness Center.\u00a0 Support UTRGV Volleyball<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Become a Fan on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Follow us on YouTube<\/a> Read Full Article
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\nThe victory extended UTRGV’s Southland Conference (SLC) winning streak to 10 matches and was the 100thconference victory for head coach\u00a0Todd Lowery<\/a>.\u00a0Lowery now sits at 599 career victories and will be chasing win No. 600 Thursday as the Vaqueros host the Incarnate Word Cardinals at the UTRGV Fieldhouse Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at\u00a0UTRGVTickets.com<\/a>. Students get in free with a valid student ID but will need to claim a ticket at\u00a0GoUTRGV.com\/StudentTickets<\/a>. A\u00a0clear bag policy<\/a>\u00a0is in place for all UTRGV Athletics venues.\u00a0
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\nJunior libero\u00a0Celianiz Cabranes<\/a>\u00a0had a career-high 40 digs \u2013 the fourth-most in a match in UTRGV (16-7, 11-1 SLC) history \u2013 to anchor a solid defensive effort that aided the win. Junior setter\u00a0Isabella Costantini<\/a>\u00a0dished out 58 assists and had four hitters in double-digit kills. Sophomore outside hitter\u00a0Martina Franco<\/a>\u00a0led the way with a match-high 17 kills and had a career-high 21 digs to go with a career-high tying four blocks in her third double-double.\u00a0
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\nFreshman outside hitter\u00a0Dimitra Nanou<\/a>\u00a0added 16 kills and the middle blocking duo of redshirt sophomore Harlingen High alum\u00a0Julianna Bryant<\/a>\u00a0and junior\u00a0Aaliyah Snead<\/a>\u00a0had 12 kills each. Snead tabbed a career-high tying six blocks and Bryant added four. Costantini had a season-high six kills, three aces, eight digs and two blocks to go with her second-highest assist total this season.\u00a0
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\nThe Islanders (9-15, 5-7 SLC) had four hitters with double-digit kills as well:\u00a0Kaitlyn Baumann (13),\u00a0Tatum Mason\u00a0(12),\u00a0Kenna Buchanan\u00a0(11) and\u00a0Katelyn Krienke\u00a0(10). Buchanan added 15 digs for a double-double and Krienke had five blocks.\u00a0Virginia Van Der Werff\u00a0had 46 assists, 13 digs and five kills.\u00a0Brooklyn Jaeger\u00a0finished with 25 digs.\u00a0
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\nThe first set was a battle from the start as both teams served early aces and put down some good kills. The Islanders found the first separation, opening an 11-7 lead with big play from Baumann.\u00a0UTRGV settled in defensively and scored four unanswered to get within one point of AMCC, but the Islanders answered with a 5-0 run to hold an 18-12 advantage. The Vaqueros cleaned up some early attack errors and got more hands on swings at the net, closing the deficit to 23-21 late in the set. Corpus Christi secured the 25-22 set win on a service error.
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\nThe Islanders carried the momentum to the second set, opening up a 12-6 lead despite the Vaqueros playing good defense. UTRGV showed its composure and Costantini sparked a 5-0 run with a dump kill and an ace. AMCC responded, forcing the Vaqueros to call timeout with the home squad leading 20-16.\u00a0
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\nUTRGV regrouped and settled in and closed the set on a big 10-4 run. Costantini was a key contributor, recording two of her four kills in the set in the run and serving an ace to even things up at 22-22. An ace from Nanou and a kill by Snead helped UTRGV to a 26-24 set win. Despite having just one block through the first two sets, the Vaqueros held the Islanders below .300 hitting in both of the opening sets as Cabranes racked up 21 digs and anchored a strong defensive effort.\u00a0
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\nSet 3 was all Vaqueros from the start. They played with incredible energy, leading to booming kills and a quick 5-0 lead. The block woke up and stuffed five Corpus swings in the frame, forcing the Islanders to scramble out of system and commit eight attack errors in the set compared to nine kills. UTRGV led by as many as nine points as Franco started scoring with ease down the stretch to help the 25-17 set win, putting the Vaqueros up 2-1 in the match.\u00a0
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\nThe Islanders jumped out to a lead in the fourth and held on to force a fifth set with a 25-23 win. The Vaqueros battled well, nearly erasing what was a six-point deficit midway through the frame. Senior serving specialist\u00a0Natalie Reyes<\/a>\u00a0was the catalyst of a 3-0 run that got the Vaqueros rolling and the teams swapped scoring plays until a block by Bryant and Costantini put UTRGV within 21-20. Both teams played good defense and got big swings in, but the Islanders held on as UTRGV committed nine attack errors in the set.\u00a0
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\nUTRGV used a pair of blocks to take an early lead in the deciding fifth set as Franco recorded a solo stuff and Snead and junior outside hitter\u00a0Nadine Zech<\/a>\u00a0combined for another. Junior defensive specialist\u00a0Isa Bento<\/a>\u00a0and Franco recorded aces as UTRGV’s service pressure put the Islanders on their heels. Franco’s booming jump serve backed a 4-0 run that opened up an 11-5 lead for the Vaqueros. Snead’s third kill of the set got UTRGV to 14-7, and though the Islanders fought off two match points, a block error on a high-hands swing by Zech secured the win, 15-9, for the Vaqueros.\u00a0
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\nUTRGV and AMCC are now tied at 7-7 in the Showdown standings as the Vaqueros also picked up the attendance point, outdrawing the Islanders 1,081-461.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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