EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball senior Alexandra Ecker broke the program record for total blocks in a career in a 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-19) sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Ecker finished with a pair of blocks to push her total to 343, which surpassed Haley Durham (341, 2012-15) to set the record. Ecker also pushed her program record in block assists to 311. 
 
Junior Barbara Silva led the way for UTRGV (7-4) with her third straight double-double after posting a match-high 15 kills and 10 digs. Senior Ragni Steen Knudsen recorded 11 kills with eight digs while senior Gysell Zayas had a match-high 25 digs. Senior Dubravka Vukoja paced the offense with a match-high 39 assists.
 
Corpus Christi (1-9) got seven kills from Madison Green while also posting eight digs with 23 assists. Jenna Krenk had a team-high 15 digs to pace the offense. 
 
The win and the attendance point extends UTRGV's lead in the South Texas Showdown, presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union, to 8.5 points to 1.5 points.
 
UTRGV and Corpus Christi went back-and-forth in the first set as a kill by Knudsen gave UTRGV the 9-8 lead before Sam Dumity tied it with a kill of her own. UTRGV answered with seven straight points to take the 16-9 lead for good to taking the first set. 
 
The second set saw 15 ties and three lead changes. Vukoja gave UTRGV the 10-8 lead with an ace before Corpus Christi battled back to tie the match. Both teams alternated the next nine points as UTRGV took the 16-14 lead after a Corpus Christi error. UTRGV got its biggest lead of the set at 24-20 on an ace by Silva before closing it out.
 
The third set stayed close early on as UTRGV led 9-7 after a kill by Knudsen. UTRGV then went on an 8-4 run to push its lead to 17-11 after a kill by senior Antonela Jularic. Later in the set, Knudsen made it 20-14 to put the set out of reach. 
 
UTRGV will be back in action on Friday, September 14, when it hosts the UTRGV Tournament. UTRGV will face Texas Southern at 1:30 p.m. and Texas Tech at 7 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. 
 
The next showdown event will take place on September 21 when men's and women's cross country compete in Corpus Christi.

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