PHOENIX, Ariz. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team ran its road record 8-3, tying the NCAA Division I program record for road wins, by beating Grand Canyon University (GCU) 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-18) on Thursday at Antelope Gymnasium.
 
UTRGV (18-8, 9-3 WAC) previously won eight road matches in 2003 (8-9) and 1996 (8-4). Winner of four in a row, UTRGV has one regular season road match remaining, coming Saturday at 3 p.m. at Seattle U.
 
Senior Ragni Steen Knudsen led UTRGV with14 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Junior Barbara Silva finished with eight kills. Senior Dubravka Vukoja recorded 18 assists, eight digs, three kills and two aces. Senior Gysell Zayas posted 18 digs. 
 
Melody Horton led GCU (10-13, 3-8 WAC) with 12 kills and nine digs.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 4-1 first set lead on the power of kills by junior Talita Oliveira, freshman Pamela Moreira and Knudsen. Then, after GCU came back to tie the set at 6, a pair of kills by junior Barbara Silva helped UTRGV to go on a 5-1 run and take an 11-7 lead. GCU got as close as one at 18-17 before four Knudsen kills fueled a 7-2 run to end the set.
 
UTRGV had an early lead in set two, going up 5-2, but GCU won the next five serves as part of a 7-1 run to take a 9-6 lead. Two serves later, down 7-10, UTRGV embarked on a 7-0 run that included kills by Oliveira, Vukoja and Moreira to take a 14-10 lead. GCU pulled within one four times, including at 17-18, before UTRGV scored the final seven points of the set, with Vukoja serving up an ace to give UTRGV a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set was tight throughout, with the first lead of more than two coming at 11-8 on a Knudsen kill. GCU won five of the next six serves to take the lead before UTRGV scored five out of six points to go up 17-14 on a Knudsen ace. UTRGV extended its lead to 20-16 on a Vukoja ace and 23-18 on a Knudsen kill. Then, after a GCU timeout, UTRGV won the final two serves, including a block by Moreira and senior Alexandra Ecker to end the match.

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