Sunday, November 9, 2014
UTA bounces back in four-set win over USA
ARLINGTON, Texas - Coming off of a gut-wrenching loss to UALR on Friday night, the UT Arlington bounced back in a four-set win over South Alabama on Sunday afternoon at College Park Center.
While the Mavericks feel that there is still room for improvement, UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour saw her team's ability to win while not playing its best as a positive sign.
"They talk about it in sports that sometimes good teams don't have to play their best to win," Seymour said. "I hope that's who we are and I think that's who we are, but I want us to play better too."
The win puts the Mavericks at 22-7 this season and 12-5 in the Sun Belt while South Alabama falls to 10-16 overall with a 5-11 conference record.
Briana Sharratt and Stacey Koch paced the Mavericks offensively as the pair recorded 14 and 12 kills respectively. Koch hit .360 in the match while Sharratt hit .323 to go along with five blocks.
"It was really important for us to win today," Sharratt said. "We've been getting up on our home wins and Friday was a downer for us. So we really needed this before we get on the road to get our spirits up."
Defensively it was a trio of players in Taylor Story, Caitlyn Cooney and Qiana Canete who helped hold the Jaguars to just .144 hitting. Story recorded a career-high 23 digs in the match while Cooney registered 21 digs. Canete's twenty digs were complimented by one block and 11 kills in the match.
"We started off kind of slow tonight, but we brought the energy back after the intermission and that's really what we needed," Canete said "We got out there and did what we had to do."
Amanda Welsh and Cassidy Wheeler served as the catalysts for the Mavericks offense as the duo recorded 25 kills each.
Trailing 16-10 in the first set, UTA responded with four straight points highlighted by a Bennett and Canete block, cutting the Jaguars lead to two points at 16-14. Later in the set down 23-18, the Mavericks went on a 3-1 run that included a block by Taylor Gross and Sharratt, making the score 24-21, but the Jaguars closed out the set 25-21.
Ashley Bennett and Sharratt paced the Mavs through the opening set as the pair of players recorded three kills apiece. Story led the charge defensively as the senior DS recorded ten digs in the set. Cooney also chipped in defensively, notching eight digs in the opening frame.
Holding on to an 8-6 lead early in the second set, UTA answered back with a 9-4 run that was capped off with a Cooney service ace, putting the Mavs on top 17-10. South Alabama then cut the lead to four points at 17-13, but that was as close as it would get as the Mavericks closed out the set on top 25-19.
Canete, Sharratt and Koch paced UTA offensively in the second set as the trio recorded three kills each. Canete also got in on the act defensively as the freshman registered seven digs in the set. Welsh directed the Maverick offense as the Austin native notched ten assists in the set.
With the third set tied at ten points, UTA scored five straight points which included four USA hitting errors and a block by Gross and Sharratt to put the Mavs on top 15-10. Trailing by as much as seven in the set, the Jaguars were able to get within five points at 23-18, but UTA dashed any hopes of USA evening the match as the Mavericks took the set 25-18.
Gross and Canete led UT Arlington in kills in the third set as both players recorded three kills and a hitting percentage of .429. Wheeler guided the Mavericks offense as the sophomore setter notched six assists in the set.
With the fourth set tied at 13, UTA used an 11-6 run to go onto 24-19 thanks to a Canete kill. USA was able to hold off the Mavericks on two straight match points, making the score 24-21 before a Koch kill ended the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
Sharratt and Koch came alive in the fourth set as the pair of players recorded six and five kills respectively. Sharratt put together an astounding hitting percentage of .857 in the set while Koch hit .571 in the set. Wheeler set the tone for the UTA offense, recording ten assists in the set. Story and Cooney spurred the Mavs defensively as the pair of players recorded six kills apiece.
The Mavericks hit .218 in the match while holding the Jaguars to just .144 hitting.
Next up for UT Arlington is a trip to Lafayette, La. where it will square off with Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
HASSELL ETCHES HER NAME IN SOUTH ALABAMA VOLLEYBALL HISTORY; JAGS FALL 3-1 AT UTA
ARLINGTON, Texas – Senior libero Jenna Hassell etched her name in South Alabama volleyball history Sunday afternoon as she passed former Jag Keturah Carter to become the program's all-time career digs leader versus Texas-Arlington. Hassell led USA with 22 digs in the Jags' 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 21-25) loss to Texas-Arlington on at the University Center.
"It's a huge honor," Hassell said of the career honor. "From day one, I just wanted to contribute in any way I could. I really didn't expect this to happen at all. This season, my main focus has been on receiving and keeping our offense in system."
With her 12th dig of the match in the third set, the player who began her career at South Alabama as a walk on tied Carter with the 1,509th dig of her career and a couple of rallies later, the Niceville, Fla., native moved into first place with another dig. The 20 dig outing was the third of the season for Hassell and the 73rd time in her Jaguar career in which she had recorded double-digits in digs.
The Jaguars (10-16, 5-11) will now return home to take on Appalachian State. First server versus the Mountaineers is set for 4 p.m. at Jag Gym. The loss for the Jags was their fifth-straight and eighth in their last nine matches.
Mechell Daniel paced the Jaguars on the offensive side of the net with 12 kills, while Nikki Gittens chipped in with 10 kills of her own. Symone Stephenson and Kolby Meeks also added nine kills each. The nine kills by Meeks were a new career-best for the Jag freshman. Stephenson led the club defensively with five block assists.
Freshman setter Emma Anderson posted her second career double-double with 39 assists and a career-best 17 digs in the loss.
Texas-Arlington improved to 22-7 overall and 12-5 in the Sun Belt with the win. Briana Sharratt led UTA with 14 kills, while Stacey Koch (12) and Qiana Canete (11) also ended the match in double-figures.
Canete was one of three Maverick players to record 20-plus digs in the match. With her 20 digs, Canete registered her 18th double-double of the season. Taylor Story had a match-high 23 digs and Caitlyn Cooney had 21 digs for UTA.
SET ONE: SOUTH ALABAMA 25, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 21
Holding an 11-10 lead midway through the opening set, South Alabama pushed across five-straight points to extend its lead out to six. Stephenson and Daniel ignited the 5-0 run with a block. Daniel and Meeks then added a kill each before Stephenson teamed up with Meeks for another block. USA led 16-10 after a Maverick attack error.
UTA trimmed the deficit to two (16-14) after a pair of Jaguar attack errors, but South Alabama answered right back with three more points to stretch its lead back out to 19-14 on a Deanna Canfield put away.
Texas-Arlington later fought off three consecutive set points, before the Jags were finally able to take the first set 25-21 on the Mavericks' eight attack error of the frame.
Meeks led USA with four kills, while Daniel, Canfield and Gittens each had three kills apiece.
SET TWO: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 19
Holding a two-point advantage (8-6), Texas-Arlington took control in the second set with a 6-2 run. Amanda Welsh dropped in an ace to begin the scoring for the Mavericks. Hannah Baptiste then added a pair of kills and Taylor Gross and Sharratt posted a block assist to cap off the scoring and put UTA up 14-7.
Meeks tried to help the Jags hang around with four more kills in the set, but Canete later evened the match and gave the host the 25-19 second-set win with her third kill of the frame.
UTA, which entered the match as the second-best hitting team in the Sun Belt, only committed two attack errors in the set to go along with its 12 kills. Texas-Arlington posted its best hitting percentage of the match (.314) in the second set.
SET THREE: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 18
Coming out of the intermission, South Alabama opened up the third set by taking four of the first five points and jumped out to a 7-2 advantage on a block by Stephenson and Daniel. Daniel also had a pair of kills during the early 4-1 run.
Trailing by five, Texas-Arlington answered back with a 5-1run of its own to take a 9-8 lead of its own following a Jaguar attack error. Baptiste began the scoring for the host with back-to-back kills. Gross later tied the set back up, 8-8, with a kill of her own.
Three points later, USA led 10-9 after block assists by Meeks and Gittens, but the Mavericks used a 6-0 run to retake the lead.
Gross began the scoring with a kill and the Jags then followed with five-straight attack errors to give Texas-Arlington a 15-10 advantage.
The Mavs held on from there and took the set, 25-18 on another kill by Canete.
SET FOUR: TEXAS-ARLINGTON 25, SOUTH ALABAMA 21
USA got off to another quick start in the fourth set, capturing five of the first six points, but like the previous set, UTA would battle back and tie the frame back up with four unanswered points.
The Jags later led the set 13-12, but like the previous set, Texas-Arlington used a run of unanswered points, this time a 4-0 run, to take the lead for good.
South Alabama would get as close as three points on multiple of occasions the rest of the way, but it wasn't enough as Koch later clinched the match and the set, 25-21, with her 12th kill of the match.
NOTES: With the four-set loss, South Alabama drops to 5-1 in the all-time series and is 0-3 in Arlington. Senior libero Jenna Hassell etched her name in South Alabama volleyball history Sunday afternoon versus Texas-Arlington as she passed former Jag Keturah Carter to become the program's all-time career digs leader. With her 12th dig of the match in the third set, Hassell tied Carter with the 1,509th dig of her career and a couple of rallies later, the Niceville, Fla., native moved into first place with another dig. The 20-dig outing was the third of the season for Hassell and the 73rd time in her Jaguar career in which she had recorded double-digits in digs. True freshman Kolby Meeks came off the bench to record a career-high nine kills. USA's second-leading scorer, Jessica Lewis, did not play in the match. Freshman setter Emma Anderson posted her second career double-double with 39 assists and a career-best 17 digs in the loss. The 28 digs by South Alabama in the first set tied a season-best for the program in a single set, matching the 28 against Northwestern State in the second set earlier this season.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).