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SAN ANTONIO -- Freshman Hannah Lopez notched her second consecutive double-double to help lead UTSA volleyball to a four-set win (25-14, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23) over Virginia Tech, on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center in the final day of the UTSA Invitational Tournament, presented by the Courtyard by Marriott and The Rim.
UTSA (8-4) was able to outlast Virginia Tech (9-3) in the finale of the UTSA Invite, the last tune-up for the Roadrunners before opening conference play next weekend.
The Roadrunners took the first set in dominating fashion, hitting .424 while holding Virginia Tech to a .000 hitting percentage, including inducing three team blocks and using eight kills from Teal in just 10 swings to take a 1-0 lead. After VT evened the match with a second-set win, UTSA was able to ride a strong effort from its bench to post wins in the third and fourth sets.
UTSA saw Lopez, a product of San Antonio's Winston Churchill High School, earn her second consecutive double-double with a 18-kill, 13-dig effort, adding two blocks. Junior Kara Teal had 13 kills and three blocks, with Brianna McCulloch owning six kills and a team-best four blocks. Sophomore Hannah Froeschl had seven kills with freshman Kenedi Rutherford owning a career-best 11 kills. Amanda Gonzales had a team-best 34 assists, with Shelby Williams owning a club-high 17 digs. Freshman Mia Perales added 17 assists.
The Roadrunners opened the first set on a furious service run from Gonzales, taking the first five points behind a pair of kills from Teal, one from Lopez and a tandem block from Teal and McCulloch to start the match. After a 3-0 Virginia Tech run, Teal sparked a 3-0 UTSA rally with consecutive kills, including her fourth on a nifty assist from Gonzales. The run continued out of a VT timeout, stretching to five consecutive points, with UTSA owning its largest lead of the set at 11-3 after a pair of hard digs from Lopez led to a kill from Rutherford. A UTSA service error snapped a 3-0 run and cut the lead to 13-5. Rutherford and McCulloch teamed up on a block for a nine-point lead before a 2-0 VT run. Rutherford's second kill, a right-handed smash from the near side of the net across court, put UTSA up 15-7. The teams traded the next five points before Lopez smashed her fourth kill for a 17-10 lead. Gonzales finished an ace for an 18-10 lead and after two points from the Hokies, Lopez terminated her fifth kill for a 19-12 lead. Teal's seventh termination of the set forced the final VT timeout with the Runners leading 21-12. UTSA got to set point at 24-13 and was able to finish off the win behind a Rutherford smash.
The first two points of the second stanza went to the Hokies before UTSA evened it up, getting a second point on a kill from Rutherford on a hard-hit smash from the far side of the court. The teams traded the first 10 points, with UTSA evening it up at 5-5 after a kill from McCulloch. A Rutherford attack led to a VT error and a 7-7 tie and Lopez used her sixth kill for an 8-8 evening. A 5-1 run from VT forced the first UTSA timeout of the match with the Hokies leading 13-9. Down 16-10, UTSA rallied with four straight to cut the lead to 16-14 and force VT timeout. UTSA got within 19-17 before VT extended its lead to 23-18 and posted the finish to even the match.
UTSA started the third set with the first three points, getting kills from Lopez and Teal and a block assist from Gonzales and Teal. After the Hokies earned three of the next four points, Teal smashed her 10th kill for a 5-3 lead. Rutherford gave UTSA a 6-3 lead but the Hokies answered to even it at eight and nine. Natalya Chatham's seventh kill of the year gave UTSA a 10-9 lead and an ace from Emily Ramirez stretched the lead to 11-9. A pure hustle point was earned after some all-out effort from Gonzales and after a block from McCulloch and Teal, UTSA forced a VT timeout with a 16-12 lead. A Gonzales service led to a kill from Teal but three of the next four points went to the Hokies, forcing a UTSA timeout. Out of the break, an off balance swing from Teal kept the point alive and the Runners took a 19-15 lead before extending it to 20-15 following a mammoth swing from Froeschl. Skyler Embry's first career kill lifted UTSA to a 21-16 lead. A pair of Lopez digs kept the point alive as UTSA took a 22-16 lead after a kill from Chatham. Chatham stopped a 3-0 VT run with a right-handed swing for a 23-19 lead and her fourth kill gave UTSA set point at 24-20.
The first points of the third set went to the Runners, with Lopez painting a kill inside the line and McCulloch adding a pair. A Rutherford kill stretched the lead to 6-2, and after a pair of errors, Froeschl notched her fourth kill of the match to give UTSA a 7-4 lead. Chatham gave UTSA an 8-4 lead and then a pair of kills from Froeschl led to a 12-6 lead and a timeout. UTSA continued to roll, taking a 17-19 lead. Lydia Niebla helped spark UTSA's 18th point on a Rutherford kill for an 18-9 lead. Virginia Tech notched seven of the next nine points to cut the lead to 20-16. UTSA was able to take three of the next four points for a 22-18 lead.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Friday, opening conference play with Southern Miss at 7 p.m. CT at the Convocation Center.
UTSA Invitational All-Tournament Team
Jaila Tolbert, Virginia Tech
Amanda Gonzales, UTSA
Hannah Lopez, UTSA
Shelly Fanning, Baylor
Aniah Philo, Baylor
Yossiana Pressley, Baylor [Tournament MVP]
- UTSA -
