EDINBURG – Senior
Alisha Watson recorded her 1,000
th-career kill as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team beat Grand Canyon University (GCU) 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-16) on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
Watson finished with nine kills and now has 1,003 for her career, ranking her seventh in NCAA Division I program history. She also had four aces and now has 125 for her career, the third-highest total in NCAA DI program history.
Off to the best start in NCAA DI program history, UTRGV (17-10, 6-5 WAC) now has 17 wins for just the fifth time as an NCAA DI program and first time since going a program record-tying 19-15 in 2003.
Junior
Bojana Mitrovic led UTRGV with 17 kills on .368 hitting with five blocks. Sophomore
Ragni Steen Knudsen recorded her 16
th double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs.
Jordyn Sanchez led GCU (4-18, 0-10 WAC) with 13 kills and 10 digs.
GCU led 3-2 at the start of the first set, but a Mitrovic kill helped UTRGV scored four-straight to take the lead. GCU responded with four of its own and the set stayed tight until the latter portion, when GCU took an 18-15 lead on a
Randahl Powers ace. Back-to-back kills by Watson brought UTRGV within one, and then, with GCU up 20-18, a Knudsen kill and two Watson aces powered a 7-2 run to end the set.
UTRGV jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the second set on four Mitrovic kills. GCU came back to within 7-9, but a pair of Knudsen kills helped UTRGV go on a 5-1 run to push the lead to six. GCU pulled within three at 19-22, 20-23 and 21-24, but a Mitrovic kill ended the set.
UTRGV scored the first four points of the third set while taking a 5-1 lead on a Mitrovic kill. GCU came back to tie the set at 7 on a
Sara Westerman kill before UTRGV pushed its lead to 11-8 on a block by Watson and sophomore
Alexandra Ecker. The set was again tied when a Sanchez kill made it 12-12, but an Ecker kill was the first of five-straight points as UTRGV closed the match on a 13-4 run.
UTRGV plays its non-conference finale on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when it visits UTEP.
Support UTRGV Volleyball |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube