PHOENIX, Ariz. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team clinched the second seed in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament after defeating Grand Canyon University (GCU) 3-0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-12) on Saturday at GCU Arena.
With the win, UTRGV clinches a first-round bye in the WAC Tournament and sets a Division I program record with 10 conference wins.
Junior
Ragni Steen Knudsen led the way for UTRGV (16-11, 10-4 WAC) with 16 kills while also adding seven digs. Senior
Bojana Mitrovic recorded her 13
th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs. Junior
Barbara Silva posted 11 kills with a team-high five blocks and junior
Dubravka Vukoja paced the offense with 43 assists.
Natalie Tardy led GCU (8-18, 4-11 WAC) with nine kills while Teagan DeFalco and Emma Ahern each recorded eight digs.
UTRGV came out swinging in the first set as Mitrovic recorded three-straight kills to take their lead to 7-1. After a point by GCU, UTRGV rallied for five-straight points to extend their lead to 12-2. A kill by Knudsen later in the set made it 19-10 in favor of UTRGV as they would score six of the next seven points to close out the set.
The second set was back-and-forth as there were 12 ties and five lead changes. A kill by Knudsen gave UTRGV the 7-5 lead before GCU answered with three-straight points to take the lead. A kill by junior
Alexandra Ecker made gave UTRGV the lead for good at 13-12 and then another kill by Ecker pushed UTRGV's lead to 21-18 before they closed out the set with four of the final five points.
After GCU opened the third set with a kill by Claire Kovensky, UTRGV went on to score the next four points to take the 4-1 lead that they would not relinquish. A kill by DeFalco got GCU within 6-4 but UTRGV went on a 10-3 run that was capped by a Mitrovic kill that made it 16-7. An ace by Knudsen pushed the lead to 21-8 giving UTRGV the biggest lead of the set helping to close out the match.
The WAC Tournament begins on Thursday with the first quarterfinals match starting at 4:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. With the first-round bye, UTRGV will play on Friday at 7 p.m. against the winner of the second quarterfinals match.
