EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) volleyball team beat Grand Canyon University (GCU) 3-1 (25-22, 25-10, 22-25, 26-24) in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) home opener on Thursday at the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
Senior Ragni Steen Knudsen led UTRGV (11-6, 2-1 WAC) with a season-high tying 19 kills and 12 digs for her sixth double-double. Freshman Pamela Moreira finished with 11 kills and four blocks. Junior Talita Oliveira posted a career-high nine blocks with six kills on .308 hitting. She had eight block assists, tying for the seventh-highest single-match total in program history.
 
Esmee Priem, Annabelle Kubinski and KJ Adams led GCU (7-7, 0-2 WAC) with nine kills each. Adams also had 16 digs and five blocks.
 
GCU jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set. Then, after a timeout, UTRGV embarked on a 9-1 run that included four blocks in a row at one point, with Oliveira involved each time. She teamed up with junior Barbara Silva three times and senior Antonella Jularic once. GCU got as close as 13-14 before UTRGV scored five of the next six points go up 21-16 on a Knudsen ace.
 
The second set was close early, as GCU was within 5-9, but UTRGV scored the next 12 points thanks in-part to two more Oliveira blocks, one of which was with Jularic and the other of which was with Moreira, to go up 21-5 and push the set out of reach.
 
After dropping the third set, UTRGV jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the fourth set on the strength of two Knudsen kills and two Moreira kills. GCU responded by winning 16 of the next 26 serves to pull within 19-20. UTRGV reached match point for the first time at 24-22, but GCU scored the next two points to tie the set. Moreira responded with a kill and then a Jularic kill ended the match.
 
UTRGV hosts Seattle U on Saturday at 12 p.m. at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Doors open at 11 a.m.

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