SEATTLE, Wash. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team fell to Seattle U 2-3 (25-17, 17-25, 24-26, 28-26, 8-15) on Thursday at the Connolly Complex.
 
Sophomore Ragni Steen Knudsen led UTRGV (15-8, 5-3 WAC) with 18 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Senior Alisha Watson recorded 13 kills with eight digs and three blocks. Freshman Barbara Silva finished with eight kills, a career-high nine digs and a career-high nine blocks, all of which were block assists. Silva now has 102 block assists this season, breaking the NCAA DI program record for block assists in a season previously held by Lisa Yanez (94, 1996).
 
Katarina Marinkovic led Seattle U (11-10, 4-4 WAC) with 26 kills, 13 digs and five blocks. Kory White finished with nine kills on .471 hitting with 13 blocks.
 
The first set was tight for the first 23 serves, with Seattle U taking its largest lead at 13-10 on a Kerry Lane ace. A Watson kill and back-to-back aces by sophomore Alexandra Ecker, however, helped UTRGV scored seven-straight points as part of a 15-4 run to end the set.
 
After a block by Ecker and junior Tina Sekulic gave UTRGV a 1-0 lead in the second set, a pair of Marinkovic kills helped Seattle U go on a 12-3 run to go up eight. UTRGV pulled within six five times, including at 13-19 on a White attack error, but that's as close as they got.
 
Down 2-3 early in the third set, a Watson kill helped UTRGV score three-straight points to go up 5-3. Seattle U responded with a 6-1 run to go up 9-6 on a Mila Duarte kill. UTRGV came back to tie the set at 14 on a Watson ace, and take the lead at 20-19 on a Knudsen kill. White and Marinkovic used kills to give Seattle U the lead, but kills by Watson and junior Bojana Mitrovic helped UTRGV go up 23-22. Seattle U reached set point at 24-23 on a block by Garbielle Pehanick and Katarina Glavinic before UTRGV tied it on a Watson kill, but a kill and an ace Marinkovic ended the set.
 
Seattle U jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fourth set, but two Knudsen kills and two Silva kills helped UTRGV go on a 9-1 run to go up 12-9. Seattle U came back to tie the set at 20 on a Duarte kill before UTRGV scored three-straight to regain the lead on a Watson kill. UTRGV reached set point at 24-22 on a Knudsen kill, 25-24 on a Watson kill, 26-25 on a Mitrovic kill and 27-26 on an error before winning it on a block by Silva and sophomore Dubravka Vukoja.
 
The fifth set was tight early, with UTRGV holding a 7-6 lead after a Mitrovic kill, but Seattle U scored the next three points as part of a 9-1 run to close out the match.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when it visits Utah Valley.

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