November 14, 2023

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced its final round of weekly award winners for the 2023 season Tuesday, with juniors Claudia Lupescu and Kiaraliz Perez of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team earning TicketSmarter WAC Player of the Week and Libero of the Week, respectively.

Lupescu was electric to lead the Vaqueros (18-11, 12-4 WAC) to a pair of wins over Tarleton State and Abilene Christian to wrap up the regular season. The outside hitter averaged 4.38 kills per set with a .329 hitting percentage through the weekend, tallying 35 kills and 19 digs through eight sets. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor.

On Thursday, Lupescu notched a career-high 23 kills with a whopping .444 hitting percentage in a tough battle against Tarleton State, adding nine digs in the effort. She followed that up with a double-double against Abilene Christian, recording 12 kills, 10 digs and a career-high tying five blocks (two solo). Lupescu also served up three aces as her tough serving aided some key scoring runs. She took the bulk of UTRGV’s swings, mixing up powerful shots cross court or down the line with well-time tips as she led all scorers in both matches with 24.0 points against Tarleton State and 17.5 points against ACU.

Lupescu leads the team scoring 3.28 points per set, is third on the team with 228 kills, second with 18 aces, and boasts 127 digs and 39 blocks.

This is the third WAC Libero of the Week award for Perez this season. She was the backbone of UTRGV’s impressive defensive effort to help the Vaqueros best a pair of scrappy teams. She totaled 43 digs over the weekend despite missing the final set of Saturday’s match, averaging an outstanding 6.14 digs per set, and she tabbed four assists and one kill.

Perez was fast and fearless covering the court, diving for digs, reaching for one-handed saves and delivering extremely accurate passes in serve-receive and in defense. She tallied 21 digs, three assists and one kill against Tarleton State, then had 22 digs and one assist in three sets against Abilene Christian.

Perez accumulated 434 digs through the regular season, second-most in the WAC and tied for 75^th in NCAA Div. I. She leads the WAC with 4.30 digs per set, tied for 77^th in the nation.

This is the third time the Vaqueros have earned multiple WAC weekly awards in the same week and eighth overall honor this season.

UTRGV will be taking part in the WAC Tournament this week in Orem, Utah. The #6 Vaqueros open the tournament against #6 Tarleton State Thursday at 2 p.m. Fans unable to attend the match in person can watch on ESPN+.

UTRGV WAC Weekly Volleyball Awards

Player of the Week

Claudia Lupescu (Nov. 14)

Setter of the Week

Luanna Emiliano (Oct. 25)

Luanna Emiliano (Oct. 11)

Luanna Emiliano (Sept. 27)

Luanna Emiliano (Sept. 6)

Libero of the Week

Kiaraliz Perez (Oct. 25)

Kiaraliz Perez (Oct. 11)

Kiaraliz Perez (Nov. 14)

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save