HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros volleyball team fell to the host Houston Baptist University Huskies 0-3 (18-25, 15-25, 20-25) on Saturday at Sharp Gym in their second match of the Marriott Houston Westchase Invitational.
 
Sophomore Bojana Mitrovic led the Vaqueros (1-1) with a match-high 10 kills and a match-high tying four blocks. Senior Haley Durham had three blocks with go with four kills. Junior Alisha Watson had six kills. Freshman Dubravka Vukoja recorded 21 assists.
 
Jessica Wooten led the Huskies (2-0) with nine kills and four aces. Blair Gillard had four blocks to go with six kills. Kayla Armer dished out a match-high 27 assists.
 
The Huskies got off to a strong start in the first set, using three-straight aces by Jessica Wooten to go up 4-0. After Wooten made a service error to get the Vaqueros on the board, the Huskies scored the next three to go up 7-1. After a timeout, Watson, freshman Alexandra Ecker and Durham had kills to help the Vaqueros pull within 5-8, but the Huskies scored the next five points. The Huskies were still up eight at 16-8 when Durham and Watson used kills to sandwich errors and bring the Vaqueros within 12-16, but that's as close as they got.
 
The Vaqueros got off to a better start in the second match, going up as much as 7-4 on a kill by Durham. After the two teams traded points, however, the Huskies got three kills by Wooten while scoring eight straight points and 14 of the next 15 to pull away for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Vaqueros jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second set thanks in part to a kill and an ace by Watson. The Vaqueros extended their lead to 9-5 after a Mitrovic ace and an attack error, but the Huskies responded with an 8-1 run to go up 13-11. The Vaqueros came back to tie the set at 16-16 on an attack error, but a kill by Ashlee Vann was the first of three-straight points for the Huskies who never trailed again.
 
The Vaqueros close out the tournament against Alcorn State at 4 p.m.

Support UTRGV Volleyball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube