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COMMERCE, Texas\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) #2 Vaqueros volleyball team swept the #7 Houston Christian University Huskies, 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-13), Friday in the quarterfinals of the Southland Conference (SLC) Championship at The Field House.\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>
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\nThe Vaqueros (21-7) will now face the #6 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders (13-16) in the semifinals on Saturday at 2 p.m.\u00a0
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\nFreshman outside hitter\u00a0Dimitra Nanou<\/a>\u00a0tabbed her eighth double-double to lead UTRGV with 12 kills on .385 hitting, 10 digs and two aces. Sophomore outside hitter\u00a0Martina Franco<\/a>\u00a0and senior right side\u00a0Valentina Sarti Cipriani<\/a>\u00a0both had eight kills while the middle blocking duo of junior\u00a0Aaliyah Snead<\/a>\u00a0and redshirt sophomore Harlingen High alum\u00a0Julianna Bryant<\/a>\u00a0added six and five, respectively. Junior setter\u00a0Isabella Costantini<\/a>\u00a0showcased the multiplicity of the offense while recording 35 assists and 10 digs for her ninth double-double.\u00a0
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\nUTRGV’s defense gave the Huskies fits. Junior libero\u00a0Celianiz Cabranes<\/a>\u00a0tallied 14 digs and the Vaqueros totaled 10 blocks. Snead led the way with a career-high tying six blocks and Cipriani had five.\u00a0
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\nTay Bonner-Williams\u00a0and\u00a0Joya Euhus\u00a0led Houston Christian (12-18) with seven kills each.\u00a0Chloe Richards\u00a0recorded 24 assists and\u00a0Bianca Byerly\u00a0had 14 digs.\u00a0
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\nUTRGV played sharp in the opening set to quickly capture a 25-15 set win. Cipriani recorded a kill and a block to assist an early 5-0 run that put the Vaqueros fully in control, and the great energy they played with had the squad on a roll. Costantini was mixing up her hitters well to get the Huskies defense on its heels. The block was active and the outside hitting tandem of Franco and Nanou put UTRGV up by 10. Snead recorded a pair of blocks in the final three points to secure the 1-0 match lead.\u00a0
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\nSet 2 was all UTRGV early, but the Huskies showed their fight. The Vaqueros continued to put down kills at a high rate, and an ace from senior Sharyland Pioneer alum\u00a0Natalie Reyes<\/a>\u00a0gave UTRGV a 13-7 lead. Then, Houston Christian scored six unanswered to even things up at 14-14. The teams swapped scores for a stretch until a solo block by Bryant fired up the Vaqueros, who then scored three in a row to take a key four-point lead. Nanou and Snead were big contributors late and a solo block from Snead secured the 2-0 match lead with a competitive 25-22 set win.\u00a0
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\nThe Huskies opened the third set with a 2-0 lead, but the Vaqueros didn’t take long to find their groove. Costantini and Nanou, the top servers on the squad, backed scoring runs from the service line and Cipriani slammed down a cross court shot for the 7-3 lead. Nanou was stellar midway through the frame and changed the momentum, recording kills and aces to aid a 19-10 lead after back-to-back blocks by UTRGV.\u00a0
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\nUTRGV closed the match on a 10-3 run to earn its trip to the semifinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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