BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team dropped its Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opener to CSU Bakersfield 1-3 (25-16, 20-25, 25-27, 18-25) on Thursday at the Icardo Center.
 
Senior Ragni Steen Knudsen led UTRGV (9-6, 0-1 WAC) with 13 kills and a career-high tying 18 digs for her fifth double-double. Senior Dubravka Vukoja posted her second double-double with 38 assists, a career-high tying 19 digs and a season-high tying three aces.
 
Desiree Sukhov led CSU Bakersfield (7-6, 1-0 WAC) with 12 kills and 11 digs. Brooke Boiseau finished with 11 kills and six blocks.
 
A kill by junior Barbara Silva and two by Knudsen helped UTRGV score the first three points of the match. UTRGV extended its lead to 12-7 on an error before CSU Bakersfield scored six in a row to take the lead. A Knudsen kill and back-to-back kills by senior Antonela Jularic, however, sparked a 5-0 run to put UTRGV up 17-13. Then, after CSU Bakersfield pulled within 16-18, a kill and two aces by Silva helped UTRGV score the final seven points to end the set.
 
UTRGV jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set as well, but CSU Bakersfield responded with an 11-2 run to take the lead for the rest of the set and tie the match at 1.
 
UTRGV reached set point in the third set at 24-20 on a Vukoja ace. CSU Bakersfield, however, responded with five-straight points, the last two of which came on Boiseau kills to take the lead. After an error tied the set, a kill and a block by Rafa Bonifacio ended the set.
 
UTRGV led early in the fourth set, going up 7-4 on an error and 13-12 on a kill by senior Barbara Thais Krug. CSU Bakersfield responded with a 6-1 run to take an 18-14 lead. UTRGV got as close as 17-19 on a block by Knudsen and senior Alexandra Ecker before CSU Bakersfield closed the match on a 6-1 run.
 
UTRGV is back in action on Saturday at 9 p.m. at California Baptist.

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