HATTIESBURG, Miss. — UTSA rallied in the deciding set to defeat Southern Miss in five sets (25-23, 22-25, 25-14, 19-25, 15-11) on Thursday night at Reed Green Coliseum to extend its win streak to eight matches.
The Roadrunners’ current win streak is the longest of the season and improves to the team’s overall record to 22-7 and 13-2 in Conference USA. Southern Miss dropped its final regular season contest and falls to 23-10 and 10-6 in league action.
Dajana Boskovic was one kill shy of matching her career high, as she totaled 28 kills with a .358 hitting percentage. She also picked up her team-leading 13th double-double with 19 digs, to go with five total blocks.
Meanwhile, Marijeta Runjic added 10 kills and Megan Slan seven kills and five blocks.
Amanda Gonzales registered her ninth match of 40-plus assists with 47 on the night with 10 digs. Annie Kunes led four Roadrunners in double figure digs with 22.
With now one match remaining in the regular season, the Roadrunners opened up its final road trip with a competitive nature. The opening set was a close one as the Roadrunners notched a 25-23 win. Both teams hit at a minimum as UTSA registered a .109 clip and held the home team to a .065 hitting percentage.
The score bounced back-and-forth with nine ties throughout the stanza. UTSA earned the final tie at 23 off a miscue by the Golden Eagles and back-to-back blocks secured the opening set win.
Southern Miss came back to tie the match in the following frame off a 25-22 win. Another close set, the score bounced back-and-forth on various occasions but after the final tie at 13, the Golden Eagles pulled away on back-to-back points. The Roadrunners came within one several times but were unable to overcome the deficit.
UTSA came back in the third set to win 25-14. The Roadrunners hit a whopping .423 in the set and held the Golden Eagles to another sub-.100 hitting percentage with a .086 clip. The Roadrunners turned it on after an early tie and rattled off a 6-1 run to lead 8-5 and never looked back.
The match headed to the decisive fifth set after the Roadrunners dropped a 25-19 decision in the fourth. In the deciding frame, UTSA used a 4-0 run to lead 9-5 and held on even forcing the home team to take a timeout at the 12-8 mark. After the Roadrunners earned match point, Southern Miss scored back-to-back points before a miscue gave UTSA the win.
The Roadrunners will return to the Lone Star State for its final regular season contest on Saturday at North Texas (18-12, 10-5 C-USA). First serve is alated for 1 p.m.