Photo Gallery

EDINBURG – Freshman Barbara Silva posted six blocks to break the NCAA DI program single-season record for blocks, but the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team fell to New Mexico State 2-3 (23-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-21, 9-15) in the home finale on Saturday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Silva now has 142 blocks this season. The previous record was 138, set by Lisa Yanez in 1996.
 
In her final home match, senior Alisha Watson led UTRGV (17-12, 6-6 WAC) with 13 kills, eight digs, four blocks and one ace. Sophomore Ragni Steen Knudsen had 12 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Sophomore Alexandra Ecker recorded 10 kills on .474 hitting with six digs and four blocks. Junior Tina Sekulic had 31 assists and 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
 
Tatyana Battle led NM State (21-6, 11-1 WAC) with 28 kills on .333 hitting and 15 digs. Jordan Abalos had 19 kills with 15 digs and three aces. Sasha-Lee Thomas finished with 14 kills on .407 hitting and three blocks. Kassandra Tohm recorded 10 kills with five digs.
 
NM State led at the outset of the first set, going up 2-1 on a pair of Thomas kills, but UTRGV took the lead for most of the rest of the set, starting by going up 10-7 on a Knudsen kill. UTRGV pushed its lead to 15-11 on an ace by sophomore Dubravka Vukoja, but after a timeout, a kill and an ace by Abalos sparked an 11-5 run to put NM State up 22-20. Then, with the set tied at 23. Another kill and an ace by Abalos ended the set.
 
NM State led for much of the first half of the second set, going up 12-9 on a Thomas kill and 13-10 on an attack error. UTRGV came back to tie the set at 14 on a Watson kill, and the set stayed tight from there, with UTRGV again tying it, this time at 20, on another Watson kill. NM State reached set point at 24-22 on a Battle kill, but Knudsen came up with four-straight kills to help UTRGV tie the match at 1.
 
The third set was close early, as UTRGV led 8-6 on a block by Watson and Ecker. Then, down 11-12, UTRGV tied it on a kill by sophomore Barbara Thais Krug. NM State scored the next six points, however, to pull away for a 2-1 lead.
 
In the fourth set, UTRGV broke a 6-6 tie with a kill and an ace by Ecker. UTRGV extended its lead to 15-10 on an error and still led by five at 20-15 on a block by Silva and Krug, and 24-19 on an Ecker kill before winning the set on a kill by junior Tina Sekulic.
 
After UTRGV scored the first point of the fifth set, NM State scored six-straight thanks in-part to a trio of Battle kills. UTRGV got as close as two at 5-7 and 6-8 on Watson kills, and 7-9 on a Krug kill, but NM State closed the set on a 6-2 run to win the match.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Thursday at 7 p.m. at UMKC.

Support UTRGV Volleyball | Become a Fan on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Follow us on Instagram | Follow us on YouTube