CORPUS CHRISTI – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team opened the 2017-18 South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, with a 1-3 (25-14, 22-25, 17-25, 15-25) loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at Dugan Wellness Center.
 
UTRGV (2-5) is now tied with Corpus Christi (3-4) 3-3 in the showdown standings.
 
Senior Bojana Mitrovic led UTRGV with 18 kills on .359 hitting with six digs and four blocks. Junior Ragni Steen Knudsen recorded 12 kills, eight digs and four aces. Junior Dubravka Vukoja posted her seventh-career double-double with 32 assists and 12 digs.
 
Brittany Gilpin led Corpus Christi with 13 kills, three aces and five digs. Mallory Moran recorded 12 kills on .435 hitting with four digs and three blocks.
 
Knudsen started the match with back-to-back kills as UTRV scored the first five points en route to a 10-3 lead. Corpus Christi pulled within five at 9-14 on a block by Chloe Simon and Moran, but three straight Knudsen kills, two Mitrovic kills and a Knudsen aces allowed UTRGV to pull away for the first set victory.

UTRGV led early in the second set as well, as a pair of Knudsen kills and a Mitrovic kill helped UTRGV go up 5-2. Later on, UTRGV led 10-7 when a kill and three-straight aces by Gilpin allowed Corpus Christi to take the lead. A pair of Mitrovic kills powered a 6-0 run to put UTRGV up 16-12, and UTRGV still led 21-20 after a kill by sophomore Barbara Silva, but Corpus Christi scored five of the final six points to tie the match at 1.
 
The third set was tight early, as UTRGV led 7-6, but Corpus Christi went on a 13-4 run to push the set out of reach.
 
The fourth set was close early as well, as UTRGV tied the set at 9 on a Mitrovic kill, but back-to-back Gilpin kills and a pair of Emily Hubacek aces allowed Corpus Christi to take a lead they did not relinquish.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Friday at the Texas Tech Tournament against UC Riverside at 10 a.m. and Lamar at 3 p.m.
 
The next event of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, is on Sept. 13 when volleyball hosts Corpus Christi at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

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