LAS CRUCES, N.M. - No. 5 seed UT Rio Grande Valley swept past second-seeded Utah Valley (25-23, 25-21, 25-23) in the championship match Saturday to win its first-ever WAC Tournament title. With the win, the Vaqueros earn their first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.
UTRGV's Ragni Steen Knudsen led all players with 15 kills on .387 hitting, while WAC Tournament MVP Alisha Watson added 12 kills and Bojana Mitrovic finished with 11.
Lexi Thompson led the Wolverines with 11 kills, while Nakisha Willden had a match-high 20 digs and Sierra Starley finished with 33 assists.
In the first set, the Vaqueros jumped out to a 10-5 lead. Utah Valley tied it at 12 and there were three more ties before UTRGV pulled out the 25-23 win. The Vaqueros out-hit the Wolverines .250 to .086 on the set. Knudsen had five kills, while Mitrovic added four.
After several early ties in the second set, Utah Valley took a three-point lead, 10-7. The Vaqueros used an 8-3 run to take a 15-13 lead and went on to a 25-21 victory. Watson had six kills in the set, while Knudsen had five.
UVU jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, but a pair of Mitrovic kills helped UTRGV go on a 5-1 run to take a 6-5 lead. Then, with the set tied at 11, UTRGV went on a 7-2 run to go up 18-13. UTRGV led 21-16 before back-to-back Madison Dennison kills and a pair of errors made it a one-point set. Mitrovic kills extended UTRGV’s lead to 22-20 and 23-21 before an ace by brought UTRGV to match point. Then, after a pair of UVU points, a Watson kill ended the match.
All-Tournament Team
Carol Grasso, CSU Bakersfield
Emma Hagedorn, UMKC
Bojana Mitrovic, UT Rio Grande Valley
Sierra Starley, Utah Valley
Alisha Watson, UT Rio Grande Valley (MVP)
Nakisha Willden, Utah Valley