LUBBOCK – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team played Texas Tech tight before falling 0-3 (23-25, 24-26, 21-25) at the Texas Tech Tournament on Saturday at United Supermarkets Arena.
 
Sophomore Ragni Steen Knudsen led UTRGV (5-4) with her eighth double-double in nine matches by coming up with 12 kills and 14 digs. Senior Alisha Watson recorded 11 kills with 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Freshman Barbara Silva recorded 11 kills on .500 hitting. Junior Bojana Mitrovic finished with 10 kills on .308 hitting. Junior Tina Sekulic dished out 43 assists with 14 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
 
Lauren Douglass led Texas Tech (8-2) with 11 kills on .526 hitting. Toni McDougald also had 11 kills.
 
After Texas Tech scored three of the first five points of the match, UTRGV went on a 5-1 run, capped by a Mitrovic kill, to go up 7-4. Texas Tech responded with a 7-3 run to regain the lead. Then, with Texas Tech up 14-13, a trio of Watson kills helped UTRGV go on a 5-2 run to take a 17-15 lead. Texas Tech scored the next three points to go up 19-17, and then UTRGV scored three of the next four points to tie the set at 20 on a Watson kill. The set was also tied at 21 on a Knudsen kill and 23 on a Silva kill, but Douglas followed with a kill and an ace to end the set.
 
Texas Tech jumped out to leads of 4-1, 6-3 and 7-4 in the second set, but a pair of Knudsen kills helped UTRGV go on a 5-1 run to take a 9-8 lead. UTRGV still had the lead at 14-12 on a block by Silva and Knudsen and 17-16 on a block by Silva and Mitrovic, but Texas Tech scored the next three points to take the lead. UTRGV came back to tie the set at 20 on a Watson kill and 21 on a Mitrovic kill before taking leads of 23-22 on a Watson kill and 24-23 on a Knudsen kill. A Kylie Rittimann kill tied the set, though, before a Katy Keenan block gave Texas Tech set point and an attack error ended the set.
 
Texas Tech took the early lead in the third set, going up 11-5 on an attack error. A Knudsen kill was then the first of four-straight points as UTRGV went on an 11-4 run to take a 16-15 lead. A Douglass kill, however, sparked a 9-3 run as Texas Tech pulled away for the victory.
 
UTRGV concludes the tournament against Stephen F. Austin at 4 p.m.

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