UTRGV Athletics Week in Review: Feb. 8 – 14

Men’s Basketball (8-4, 2-0) 

• Friday and Saturday evening match at California Baptist University in Riverside, California

The Vaqueros were scheduled to travel to Riverside, California to resume WAC after nearly a month-long break due to multiple cancellations due to COVID-19 protocols.

The weekend series was canceled as the team took time to mourn the loss of Head Coach Lew Hill who unexpectedly died on Feb. 7. 

Women’s Basketball (4-9, 0-4)

• Friday afternoon 61-82 defeat vs. California Baptist University

The Vaqueros came up short against the Lancers as they were playing with heavy hearts still mourning the death of men’s basketball Head Coach Lew Hill. 

UTRGV sophomore guard Sara Bershers ended with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds and junior guard Jordan Lewis recorded her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. 

• Saturday afternoon 64-79 defeat vs. California Baptist University

The game hung in the balance midway through the third quarter as the Vaquero held a 42-40 lead. The Lancers then pulled away by going to a 21-10 run to end the third frame and in the fourth quarter outscored UTRGV 18-12. 

Graduate guard Amara Graham finished with a team-high 15 points to go along with three assists and five rebounds. 

Men’s Golf

• Fifth place finish out of 13 at the LaTour Intercollegiate in Matthews, Louisiana

In their first action of the season, the Vaqueros finished in fifth place with a two-round team score of 591, one stroke behind fourth-place Samford and two strokes ahead of sixth-place Missouri State.  

Graduate Luca Portelli was the highest placing Vaquero tied for 15th with a two-round score of 147, shooting 73 on day one and 74 on day two.

Men’s Soccer (1-0, 1-0) 

• Saturday night match vs. Grand Canyon University

The season-home opener at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex was canceled as a result of a Tier I member within the Grand Canyon men’s soccer program testing positive for COVID-19. 

Women’s Soccer (3-0-1) 

• Wednesday night 0-0 overtime draw vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi

In the season rematch of the South Texas Showdown, the Vaquero came up empty-handed despite outshooting the Islanders 20-4 and 8-2 on goal. 

The closest UTRGV came to finding the back of the net was in the 69th minute as Emily Zapata headed a corner from sophomore midfielder Anna Torslov but was denied by an Islander defender guarding the post.

• Sunday afternoon 1–0 victory at the University of Texas at San Antonio 

The Vaqueros recorded their third straight clean sheet with junior goalkeeper Maile Lunadri between the sticks as she accounted for four saves. The lone goal of the match came in the 20th minute as senior midfielder Gina Steiner converted a PK. 

UTSA outshot UTRGV 12-1 and 5-1 on goal and also took five corner kicks to zero from the Vaqueros. 

Men’s Tennis (3-3) 

• Tuesday afternoon 0-7 defeat vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Vaquero junior Zane Kohrs and freshman Luka Jankovic earned the only victory of the day for UTRGV in their doubles match against freshmen Ryuya Ata and Nathan Schwartz. UTRGV would drop their other two doubles matches, 4-6 and by default, to go down early 0-1. 

The Islanders then swept the Vaqueros in their singles matchups. 

Women’s Tennis (0-5)

• Tuesday afternoon 1-6 defeat vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi

The lone victory of the day for the Vaqueros came on court No. 1 as freshman Isabelle Bahr went the distance against Islander sophomore Camille Townsend, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. 

• Saturday afternoon matchup at St. Mary’s in San Antonio

The Vaqueros’ matchup versus the Rattlers was canceled due to inclement weather. The match has been rescheduled to March 8. 

Volleyball (0-6, 0-4)

• Monday night 0-3 defeat vs. New Mexico State University

In the Vaqueros’ season home-opener, they fell 0-3 (20-25, 21-25, 15-25) as they dropped their fifth game of the season. 

UTRGV senior middle blocker Veronika Jandova posted a team-high 10 kills on 18 attempts. In her first game of the season, sophomore Victoire Nama recorded three kills and five digs. 

• Tuesday afternoon 0-3 defeat vs. New Mexico State University

The Vaqueros dropped their rematch versus the Aggies 0-3 (19-25, 14-25, 20-25). UTRGV is now off to their worst start since the 2002 season where the team started with an 0-6 record but went 16-13 the rest of the way. 

Graduate setter Mackenzie Coates ended the match with a game-high 22 assists. Junior outside hitter Sara Cruz led UTRGV with eight kills on 31 total attacks.   

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