Aug. 29, 2006
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - The never-say-die attitude of the 2006 UT Arlington volleyball team was never more evident than Tuesday evening when the Mavericks rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat rival TCU 22-30, 23-30, 30-24, 31-29, 15-11 in front of 452 fans at Texas Hall.
The Horned Frogs (4-1) came out strong in the first two games as they eased their way to victories and looked to have the match in hand.
The Mavs (3-1) used the 10-minute intermission to regroup their thoughts and third-year head coach Diane Seymour had just the right words to say.
"We basically asked them, you are going to define your own destiny always and who are you going to be tonight and who are you going to be this season," said Seymour. "We tried not to harp back to last year, but basically you have to. You have to say, are you going to be that same team again or are you going to be someone different this year. They decided that is how it was going to be and we basically said , I'll go 6-21 again, but you better make sure those 21 teams beat us. You don't lose, they beat you. They understood that and we told them we go out and win game three and they will still be shocked in game four and we'll get them in game five."
As the lone senior on the team, libero Ashley Smith knew that the team needed to make a strong statement in the third game and responded with 10 of her season-best 33 digs in game three.
"I feel that when coach came in at intermission and told us we looked like we had already loss was what really hit us in the face," said Smith. "We really did look like that, every single one of us on the court. Me and Ned (Emily Nedderman) knew as captains need to pick up everyone else's job. We were having a lot of hitting errors and we need to pick up our other teammates. It was really frustrating, but it means so much and it is so awesome we came from down like that to take the win."
The Mavs came out of the locker room and quickly seized control of the third game and raced out to a 7-1 advantage. The Frogs made a little run as they trimmed the deficit to three before a pair of Frog errors and kills from Dani Johnson and Torie Dacus pushed the advantage back to seven. Dacus and freshman Teena Sobczak each recorded four kills in the game and Sobczak added nine digs.
The momentum carried into the fourth game as UTA jumped out to an early lead before TCU battled back to tie the score 10-10. From that point, neither team was able to open up more than a three-point advantage. The two teams found themselves locked in a 29-29 tie before Sobczak put away to straight attacks to give the Mavs the victory.
The fourth game was kind of the coming out party for the freshman as she showed the Maverick fans that she was not scared of the pressure by recording eight of her career-high 21 kills in that fourth game. She would also finish the match with a career-best 18 kills.
"Being my first home game as a freshman, it was just awesome to play at Texas Hall for the first time," said Sobczak. "We were all siked out there. I was ready to prove to the fans that yea, I am a freshman, but I have a lot to offer to this team."
"The pressure after the first two games was a little tough, but after coach really talked to us just really motivated me to pick up my game, pick up the intensity and just get everybody else on the court up. It was a big deal and I love we could come out in a five-game win, just like being down 2-0 and come back and prove to everyone that we could do this and know this is a brand new year and brand new team.
Sobczak was not the only player to put up big offensive numbers as she was joined by three other teammates with double-digit kills. Johnson and Dacus each collected 12 kills and Ellen Murray added 11.
The Mavs never trailed in the deciding game and took the lead for good when they got block assists from Dacus and Murray and followed it up with block assists from Murray and Nedderman. UTA would push the advantage to five, but the Frogs rattled off the next three points to make the game interesting. The rally was short lived as Sobczak was the beneficiary of a ball that climbed over the net and found the ground and then joined with Gina Kalb to block down the final point of the match.
UTA enjoyed their best blocking match of the season as they finished with 15 total team blocks. Nedderman led the way with 10 block assists, followed by Murray with eight and Kalb seven.
Nedderman would finish the night with her second triple-double of her career with 49 assists and 10 digs to go along with her 10 blocks.
The Mavs return to action on Sept. 1 as they take on SMU in the first day of the Radisson Hotel SMU Invitational. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum.
