Sept. 10, 2004

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas - Caley Smith and Melissa Marek had nine kills each to lead Texas-Arlington a 3-0 win (30-19, 30-24, 30-28) over Houston in the opening match of the 2004 Arlington Hilton/UTA Invitational at Texas Hall Friday.

The win raises UTA (6-0) to its best start since 1987 when UTA went 32-7 and advanced to the NCAA region finals. Houston falls to 1-4.

UTA overcame an 18-11 deficit in game three to seal the win.

After a Mary Cates kill gave Houston its largest lead of the match, 18-11, Smith pounded home a kill and junior Ashley Van Antwerp hit back-to-back winners to trim the lead to 18-14. After a block by Loure Dews and Cates gave Houston a 20-14 edge, Van Antwerp responded with a block to begin a 7-2 run to close the gap to 22-21.

The teams seesawed back and forth until UTA closed the match with a 5-1 spurt thanks to a Smith kill and two aces.

Van Antwerp, senior setter Heather Dunn and freshman outside hitter Morgan Rogers all had seven kills each. Rogers led the Mavs with 12 digs.

Houston was led by Kelly McAnelly's 13 kills. Kariny Ritter added 12 digs. " The Lady Mavs used two decisive streaks to take games one and two - 30-19, 30-24.

In game one, UTA broke an 8-8 tie with five straight points, the last a block by Tori Dacus and Melissa Marek, to give UTA a 13-8 lead. The Mavs nevered trailed as UTA slowly pulled away thanks to two kills by Marek and Van Antwerp.

UTA used four Houston hitting errors to go on an 11-0 run and break a 6-6 tie in game two. Back-to-back Houston hitting errors made the score 17-6. Van Antwerp had two kills during the run for the Mavs.

The Mavericks will return to action this evening for a 7 p.m. affair with undefeated Alabama.

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