Aug. 27, 2005
Box Score
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Senior outside hitter Ashley Van Antwerp posted nine kills to lead a balance Texas-Arlington attack to defeat Prairie View A&M 30-13, 30-18, 30-18 at the Texas A&M/Fazoli's Funfest Volleyball Tournament at G. Rollie White Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
UTA (1-0) will face 16th-ranked Texas A&M (1-0) in the championship match today at 6:30 p.m.
"I thought our play wasn't as crisp as I would have liked it in games one and two," said head coach Diane Seymour. "But we talked about that during the break and came out and played hard in game three."
Sophomores Morgan Rogers and Gina Kalb had seven kills each and Emily Nedderman added six. Junior libero Ashley Smith and Van Antwerp led with 15 digs each while Kalb led with seven total blocks.
"Our offense will continue to get better as Nedderman becomes more and more comfortable," said Seymour. "(Ashley) Van Antwerp will get the ball during pressure points, but with Nedderman getting accustomed to the team, she will distribute the ball more."
In game one, UTA raced out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a block by senior middle blocker Melissa Marek, kills by Nedderman and Van Antwerp and a Prairie View error.
UTA took the lead for good at 5-4 after a Kalb block. For the game, UTA made just one attack error to hit a .263 percentage while forcing 16 PVAM in the game for a -.118.
UTA used a 7-0 run to pull away from Prairie View (0-2) in game two. The decisive run was culminated by a block from Nedderman and Kalb gave UTA a 20-10. Rogers had five kills and Van Antwerp added three in the game.
All 11 Mavericks suited for the match played in game three. UTA raced out to a 10-1 lead in the final game and never looked back.
MATCH NOTES: Sophomores Kalb and Nedderman made their first starts for UTA. Kalb played a reserve role for the Mavericks last season while Nedderman transferred from Wake Forest where she played 13 games and made three starts.... UTA improves to 2-0 all-time against Prairie View A&M. UTA defeated the Lady Panthers 15-1, 15-3, 15-2 at Texas Hall to open the 1988 season. UTA went on to a 30-4 record before losing to Texas in the regional finals... Diane Seymour joined Cathy George (1989-90) and Lisa Love (1982-83) as UTA coaches to win their first two season openers... Ten players recorded kills during the match... Freshmen Ally Wade, Michelle Schwartz notched their first collegiate kills.
