Draya Rios/THE RIDER
EDINBURG – The Vaqueros (1-3) hung through but ultimately fell 3-1 to the Texas State Bobcats in their home opener Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
UTRGV Volleyball head coach Todd Lowery said although he liked how his team played in the first set, they still need to figure out the details after that.
“The girls did a good job executing the game plan,” Lowery said. “We just didn’t execute, you know, after set one as much as we should have.”
This season, the Vaqueros have nine new players on their roster, and Lowery hopes to use these early season games as a building block to their upcoming conference schedule.
Harlingen High School alum and Vaqueros junior Julianna Bryant had a great game for UTRGV, tallying a career-high 10 kills to go alongside a four-block night.
Lowery said he is glad to have her in the lineup regularly, as Bryant missed several games last season due to injury.
“Having [Bryant] back changes a lot of things for us, and you can see why tonight,” he said. “She’s only going to continue to get better and finding ways to score. [The question is] how do we use her as much as we can?”
Bobcats junior outside hitter Samantha Wunsch tallied 20 kills alongside 12 digs and five blocks in the game.
Draya Rios/THE RIDER
The Vaqueros took the first set, coming out the gate hot to start the game. After two ties by the Bobcats, UTRGV gained a rhythm, led by Bryant and outside hitter Dimitra Nanou’s blocking efforts.
They ultimately took the first set 25-20, with the final serve of the set ending in a back and forth sequence.
Texas State then came back with a fury. After exchanging blows with UTRGV, the Bobcats worked back from a 9-9 tie to take the second set 25-20, tying the game at a set a piece.
Much of the same play from the Bobcats propelled them to a dominant 25-17 win in the third set, giving Texas State a 2-1 lead in the game. Texas State outhit the Vaqueros .685 to .276 in this set.
The final set saw the Vaqueros storm out to a 5-0 lead to begin it. However, the Bobcats would punch right back, ultimately tying the set at 15 and 16 before ultimately going on a run to take a 16-21 lead.
Texas State finished out the fourth and final set with a 25-20 win to win the game three sets to one.
UTRGV takes on the University of Texas at El Paso Miners at 6:30 p.m. today at the Fieldhouse to complete their participation in the Southwest Showdown.
Draya Rios/THE RIDER
