Sept. 12, 2006
Box Score
RUSTON, La. - It wasn't pretty at times, but a win is a win. For the UT Arlington volleyball team that was the case Tuesday night as, despite not showing their best effort, the Mavs persevered and left the Thomas Assembly Center with a come-from-behind 30-20, 18-30, 29-31, 32-30, 15-10 victory over Louisiana Tech.
UTA entered the final game with the momentum from the previous game and used it to their advantage in jumping out to a 5-2 advantage on a pair of kills from Torie Dacus.
The Lady Techsters battled back and got within one point, but a pair of Teena Sobczak kills pushed the advantage back to three. After the advantage was cut back to one, the Mavs took over the game and set up game point with a block from Gina Kalb and Dacus, and then ended the game with a block from Kalb and Michelle Schwartz.
The Mavs (8-4) took advantage of some hitting errors by the Lady Techsters to take the first game. LTU had 17 errors on 48 swings in that first game and the Mavs recorded 12 block assists. Ellen Murray led the defense with four block assists and Emily Nedderman added three.
The second game was the complete opposite of the first as LTU came out strong and opened up a 15-9 advantage and never looked back in easing to victory. Sobczak led the Mavs attack with five kills.
The Techsters (4-10) seemed poise to roll through game three as they quickly jumped out to a 7-1 advantage. UTA did not go away that easy as they battled back and tied the game 18-18 on back-to-back service aces from Dani Johnson.
UTA would fall behind by two points before kills from Johnson and Murray gave the Mavs their first lead of the game at 27-26. An attack error by the Mavs and kills from KC Clayton and Shannon Phillips would give the game to LTU.
The fourth game was a battle back-and-forth as neither team was able to open up more than a three-point advantage. As the game went on, the game got closer and the two teams found themselves knotted 30-30. UTA gained the advantage on a kill from Sobczak and ended the game with a block from Dacus and Kalb.
The Mavs return to action Sept. 15-16 as they take part in the Oral Roberts Classic in Tulsa, Okla. UTA will take on Utah State at 10:30 a.m. on Friday in their first of four matches on the weekend.
