Julia Guerrero EDINBURG– The UTRGV Volleyball Team dominated its second home game against the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-17) Tuesday afternoon.
The Vaqueros record now stands at 6-4 for the season.
Junior outside hitter Ilana De Assi led the team with 11 kills on .450 hitting. This is the first season with the program for De Assi. Junior setter Luanna Emiliano came in with a strong helping hand and tallied 29 assists.
Head coach Todd Lowery said the team lacked a strong defense approach at last week’s game against Tulane University in Corpus Christi, which ultimately led to a loss. He said the team went in early on Monday and worked on a more defensive approach.
“I think we just went back to the way we were playing the first weekend, defensively,” Lowery said. “I think the girls did a really good job on responding to the things we talked about and that’s such a positive early in the season because that means we’re [going to] continue to get better.”
Incarnate Word now stands 7-3. The Cardinals had a total of 27 kills and 33 points in all three sets.
Asked about the audience and if it helps motivate the team, Senior Middle Blocker Luisa Silve Dos Santos replied it helps a lot.
“I wish we had more games here because it was insane,” De Santos said. “It’s amazing. They’re amazing.”
The Vaqueros will take on the California State University, Northridge Matadors Friday in San Francisco.
