SEATTLE, Wash. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the Seattle U Redhawks 0-3 (14-25, 16-25, 26-28) to close out the regular season on Saturday at Seattle Academy.
 
Sophomore Bojana Mitrovic led the Vaqueros (11-18, 4-10 WAC) with 11 kills on .312 hitting and three digs. Sophomore Tina Sekulic dished out 18 assists. Junior Fatoumata Dacosta recorded 10 digs.
 
Matea Mamic led the Redhawks (17-10, 9-5 WAC) with 15 kills on .414 hitting and six aces. Martina Samadan and Mila Duarte had 10 kills each.
 
The first set was tight early, with the Vaqueros taking leads of 1-0 on a Mitrovic kill, 2-1 and 3-2 on kills by junior Alisha Watson, and 4-3 on a Mitrovic kill. The Vaqueros were within 7-9 after a kill by senior Haley Durham, but the Redhawks closed the set on a 16-7 run to go up 1-0.
 
The Redhawks rode that momentum into the second set, going up 8-3 on a Kerry Lane kill. After the two team traded points, the Vaqueros scored four out of six points to pull within 10-14. The Vaqueros were still within four at 12-16 after a kill by freshman Alexandra Ecker, but the Redhawks responded with a 9-4 run to end the set.
 
The Vaqueros built an early lead in the third set, going up 10-6 on a Mitrovic kill that capped a 5-0 run. The Redhawks scored the next six points to take the lead back, but with the Redhawks up 15-13, three Watson kills powered a 5-1 run that saw the Vaqueros go up 18-16. The set stayed within one until it ended, as, down 23-24, a Watson kill kept the match going. Then, down 24-25, Mitrovic had back-to-back kills to give the Vaqueros set point before a pair of Samadan kills and an attack error ended the match.
 
The sixth-seeded Vaqueros open up the WAC Tournament with a quarterfinals matchup against third-seeded Utah Valley on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Missouri-Kansas City.

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