CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-23) victory over Chicago State University (CSU) on Saturday at the Jacoby Dickens Center.
 
UTRGV (18-13, 7-7 WAC) has now won 18 games for just the fourth time in NCAA DI program history and first time since 2003. UTRGV finishes conference play .500 for the first time in NCAA DI program history.
 
Senior Alisha Watson led UTRGV with 16 kills on .440 hitting. Sophomore Ragni Steen Knudsen posted 11 kills on .333 hitting with seven digs and four aces.
 
Juma Armando led CSU (3-26, 1-13 WAC) with 11 kills.
 
CSU led for much of the first set, going up 4-1 out of the gate, and then, after UTRGV went up 6-5 on a Watson kill, CSU went on a 10-4 run to go up 15-10 on a Megan Klavitter kill. CSU still led at 22-19 after a block by Briana Stewart and Shedella Smith, but three Knudsen kills powered a 6-0 UTRGV run to end the set.
 
UTRGV and CSU traded points over the first eight serves of the second set, but UTRGV responded with a 10-4 run, capped by three-straight Watson kills, to take a 14-8 lead. UTRGV extended its lead to 21-13 on an attack error before coasting to a 2-0 lead.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set on a Watson kill. UTRGV still led by four at 7-3 on a kill by freshman Barbara Silva, but CSU followed with an 8-2 run to go up 11-9. CSU pushed its lead to 15-10 on an Armando kill and 19-13 on a Klavitter ace, but three Watson kills powered a 9-0 run as UTRGV came back to take a lead they never relinquished.
 
Fifth-seeded UTRGV opens up the WAC Tournament on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals against fourth-seeded UMKC at New Mexico State.

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