SAN ANTONIO – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team played its third-straight five set match, beating the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 25-15, 23-25, 15-13) on Tuesday at McDermott Convocation Center.
 
Off to the best start in the NCAA DI history of the program, UTRGV (16-9) now has 16 wins at the NCAA DI level for the first time since 2003, when it finished an NCAA DI program record tying 19-15. UTRGV now has five road wins, its highest total at the NCAA DI level since winning an NCAA DI program record-tying eight road matches in 2003.
 
Sophomore Ragni Steen Knudsen led UTRGV with 17 kills and eight digs. Junior Bojana Mitrovic posted her career-high ninth double-double of the season with 16 kills, 15 digs and four blocks. Junior Tina Sekulic also notched her career-high eighth double-double of the season with 15 assists and 11 digs. Senior Alisha Watson served up a season-high tying five aces to go with 10 kills and nine digs.
 
Bryaunea Hall led UIW (9-14) with 13 kills and three blocks. Shaina Garza finished with 11 kills and 14 digs. Autumn Lockley had 11 kills and 11 digs.
 
After dropping the first set, UTRGV found itself in a tight second set with UIW, as the score was tied at 7. A kill and an ace by freshman Barbara Silva, however, helped UTRGV go on a 7-2 run to take a 14-9 lead. UIW pulled within 14-16 on an error, but four Watson aces in a span of five serves fueled a 9-2 run to end the set.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third set. Then, with the lead cut to one at 5-4, UTRGV went on a 6-1 run, capped by a block by sophomores Dubravka Vukoja and Alexandra Ecker, to go up 11-5. UIW pulled within three at 9-12, but UTRGV scored the next four to push its lead to 16-9. UTRGV extended its lead to eight at 23-15 on a Watson kill and 24-16 on an Ecker kill before winning the set on an Ecker block.
 
UTRGV went up 10-9 in the fourth set, but a kill and an ace by Lockley helped UIW score six in a row to build a five-point lead. Two serves later, back-to-back Mitrovic kills allowed UTRGV to score five in a row to tie the set at 16. UIW scored the next three to push its lead back out to three. UTRGV came back to tie it at 23 on a Knudsen ace, but a kill and a block by Sarea Alexander ended the set.
 
UIW went up 3-1 at the start of the fifth set, but UTRGV followed with a 9-3 run to go up 10-6 on a Knudsen kill. UTRGV still led by four at 13-9 on a Watson kill before UIW scored three-straight to make it a one-point set. Then, with the score 14-13, Mitrovic came up with a kill to end the match.
 
UTRGV returns home on Thursday at 5 p.m. when it hosts CSU Bakersfield at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Doors open at 4.

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