PHOENIX, Ariz. – Senior Haley Durham tied the program record for career block assists, but the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the Grand Canyon University Antelopes 1-3 (19-25, 25-17, 15-25, 23-25) on Saturday at Antelope Gymnasium.
 
Durham recorded two block assists to bring her career total to 250 and pull even with Danielle Holthe (2002-05) atop the leaderboard. Durham is already the program's all-time leader in blocks per set (0.82) and currently ranks fourth in total blocks (307) and sixth in block solos (57). Durham also had nine kills on .368 hitting during the match.
 
Sophomore Bojana Mitrovic led the Vaqueros (8-11, 1-4 WAC) with her seventh double-double by recording 21 kills with a career-high 17 digs. Junior Alisha Watson posted 11 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the season and the sixth of her career. Freshman Alexandra Ecker had a career-high 10 kills with no errors on .556 hitting. Freshman Dubravka Vukoja recorded a career-high 46 assists with a career-high 13 digs for her third double-double. Sophomore Briana Shannon had a career-high 15 digs.
 
Melody Horton led the Antelopes (3-14, 1-4 WAC) with 17 kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Jordyn Sanchez finished with 15 kills and 12 digs. Hannah Hicks had 10 kills on .400 hitting. Randahl Powers dished out 47 assists with 14 digs.
 
Mitrovic recorded a kill on the first serve of the match as the Vaqueros jumped out to a 3-0 first set lead. The 'Lopes responded with a 6-1 run to take the lead, but two kills by Ecker and a kill and an ace by Watson allowed the Vaqueros to retake the lead at 8-6. A little later on, the Vaqueros led 13-12 after a kill by junior Megan Dempsey, but Horton had three kills to power an 8-2 run as the 'Lopes pulled away for a 1-0 lead.
 
The 'Lopes scored the first five points of the second set before Durham came up with a kill and a block to get the Vaqueros on the board. The 'Lopes maintained their lead, going up 14-9 on an error, but a Watson kill sparked a 5-0 run for the Vaqueros that ballooned into a 15-3 run to close out the set. Watson had two kills, an ace and a block while Mitrovic had three kills during the run.
 
Durham recorded a pair of early kills in the third set to put the Vaqueros up 2-1, but the 'Lopes scored the next six points as part of a 13-2 run to go up 14-4. The Vaqueros pulled within 6-14 on a Dempsey kill and 12-20 on a Watson kill, but that's as close as they got.
 
The fourth set was tight early, with the 'Lopes taking the first two-point lead at 7-5 on an error. The 'Lopes extended their lead to 13-8 on an ace by Emily Vitel, but Durham responded with back-to-back kills to make it a three-point set, and then Ecker and Mitrovic each added a pair of kills as the Vaqueros pulled even at 16. The 'Lopes scored five of the next seven points to go up 21-18 on a Horton kill, but the Vaqueros came back to tie it at 21 on a block by Ecker and Watson. After a Horton kill, Watson and Dempsey had kills to put the Vaqueros up 23-22, but the 'Lopes scored the next three points to end the match.
 
The Vaqueros return home to face Seattle U on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.

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