SAN ANTONIO — Dempsey Thornton, Dajana Boskovic and Marijeta Runjic all notched double-figure kills to lead UTSA past FIU in four sets (24-26, 27-25, 25-12, 27-25) on Sunday's Senior Day at the Convocation Center.
Thornton shined in her final home match, as she tallied a career-high 25 kills and four service aces and she also added 12 digs and a block.
Meanwhile, Boskovic racked up a career-best 23 winners while hitting a season-high .439 and she recorded her ninth double-double of the year with 11 digs.
Runjic added 11 kills and a career-best four aces.
Jessica Waldrip matched a career high with 59 assists to help lead the Roadrunners' .348 hitting percentage.
UTSA (18-7, 14-0 C-USA), now winners of 15 consecutive matches, outdug the Panthers, 74-58, and Annie Kunes led the way with 31.
The Roadrunners dropped the opening set after watching the Panthers (6-22, 3-12 C-USA) jump out to an early 6-1 lead. However, UTSA made up the deficit to even the score at nine on a kill by Tessa Dahnert and managed to stay ahead until FIU rallied at the end by scoring five of the final six points.
The Roadrunners bounced back to win the next two frames to take control of the contest.
The second frame saw five ties, but UTSA held the lead throughout. The Panthers attempted to take a 2-0 lead after coming from behind to tie the score at 24 with three straight points. The score bounced back-and-forth, but a Runjic kill followed by an ace allowed the Birds to even the match.
UTSA cruised in the following panel by hitting .385 while holding FIU to a .121 clip. The Roadrunners registered five of their nine aces in the set while Thornton tallied six of her winners.
Thirteen ties and five lead changes made for a thrilling final set that saw UTSA remain undefeated in Conference USA play.
The Roadrunners played from behind for most of the stanza and didn’t make a run until late. A 5-1 UTSA run tied things up at 17 and that forced a FIU timeout. Eight ties ensued before a Boskovic kill and a block from Runjic and Dahnert secured the win for the Roadrunners.
UTSA now is one win away from matching the program record of 16 consecutive victories set in 1999.
The Roadrunners will close out regular-season play next weekend with a Thursday match at North Texas and Saturday contest at Rice.