OREM, Utah – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 deficit to force a fifth set before falling to Utah Valley University (UVU) 2-3 (23-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-15, 10-15) on Saturday at the UCCU Center.
 
Senior Alisha Watson led UTRGV (15-9, 5-4 WAC) with 18 kills on .395 hitting and three blocks. Sophomore Ragni Steen Knudsen posted 17 kills with eight digs. Junior Bojana Mitrovic recorded her eighth double-double with 16 kills, 10 digs and four blocks. Sophomore Alexandra Ecker posted 11 kills without an error on 17 attacks for a .647 hitting percentage. Sophomore Dubravka Vukoja dished out 31 assists with four digs and three blocks while junior Tina Sekukic dished out 28 assists with nine digs.
 
Kiahna Vernon led UVU (10-12, 6-3 WAC) with 18 kills on .311 hitting. Madison Dennison had 17 kills on .333 hitting and five blocks. Lexi Thompson finished with 16 kills.
 
After recording seven kills through the first two sets, Watson recorded eight kills in the third set to help UTRGV pick up a win. She had UTRGV's first three kills of the set and five overall to help UTRGV jump out to a 13-8 lead. Then, after UVU scored two in a row, another Watson kill helped UTRGV pushed its lead out to 15-10. UVU followed with a 9-4 run to tie the set, but Watson came up with two more kills to give UTRGV the lead for the rest of the set.
 
UTRGV dominated the fourth set, only allowing UVU to score on back-to-back serves three times. UTRGV led 5-1 out of the gate on a block by Watson and Ecker. UTRGV extended its lead to 10-3 on a block by Mitrovic and freshman Barbara Silva, 14-4 on a block by Silva and Vukoja, and 21-10 on an an ace by sophomore Barbara Thais Krug. UTRGV won the set on back-to-back Knudsen kills.
 
Mitrovic had a pair of early kills to help UTRGV jump out to a 3-1 lead in final set. Another Mitrovic kill made it 5-3, and then after UVU tied the set, Knudsen kills put UTRGV up 7-5 and 8-6. After a timeout, UVU scored five-straight points to go up 11-8 before an Ecker block brought UTRGV within two. UTRGV was still within two at 10-12, but a Thompson kill and two errors ended the match.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set on a Watson kill. UVU responded with an 8-2 run, capped by back-to-back Vernon kills to take a 9-6 lead. UTRGV scored six of the next eight points to regain the lead at 12-11 on an Ecker kill. UTRGV still led at 15-14 on a block by Mitrovic and Silva, and the match was tied at 19 after an error before UVU scored five out of seven points to reach set point. A kill and an ace by Mitrovic brought UTRGV within one, but a Vernon kill ended the set.
 
Watson, Ecker and Mitrovic each recorded a pair of kills to help UTRGV jump out to an 11-5 lead in the second set. UTRGV still led by six at 13-7 after another Ecker kill, but Thompson came up with two kills and two aces to power an 8-1 run that allowed UVU to take a 15-14 lead. UTRGV tied the set at 15 on an error and 16 on a Mitrovic kill, but two more Thompson kills helped UVU close the set on a 9-4 run.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it visits Incarnate Word for a non-conference match.

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