Sept. 2, 2006
Box Score
DALLAS, Texas - The UT Arlington volleyball team overcame a collapse at the end of the first game to power their way to a 29-31, 30-28, 30-22, 30-27 victory over Toledo Saturday morning at the Radisson Hotel/Mustang Classic.
UTA (4-2) did not have their best offensive game of the season in the opener, but used 10 digs apiece from Dani Johnson and Ashley Smith to open up an advantage and found themselves ahead 29-24 on a kill by Liz Curry.
That is when it all went downhill as the Rockets would score the next nine points and stun the Mavs in game one.
"The preseason is a learning experience," said head coach Diane Seymour. "We talked about it last night that we hope we can experience all kinds of things and there is an opportunity to see us choke. I'll say it, we choked. They need to learn from that and hopefully they will and we won't see that happen again."
"Then again, they are starting to battle back so that is a good thing as well. So hopefully we are getting out of the preseason what we want."
The Mavs felt a little hangover in the early stages of the second game as the Rockets opened up a 6-1 advantage. The Mavs then began their comeback which saw a pair of kills from Ellen Murray and one from Curry to tie the score 15-15. The two teams would stay neck-and-neck the remainder of the game. UT would practically give the game away at the end as an attack error, set error and service error served as the final three points for the Mavs in the victory.
That would serve as the break UTA needed to secure the match. A very tight game in game three turned in UTA's favor as kills by Murray, Teena Sobczak, Michelle Schwartz and Johnson gave the Mavs a 20-15 advantage. UT would never get any closer as an Emily Nedderman service ace set up game point and Torie Dacus would put it away.
UT (2-4) felt the affects in the final game as they quickly fell behind 12-1. They would make a fierce comeback and pull withing 26-23. Murray would serve as the offensive force for the Mavs as she put away three balls and Sobczak ended the match with a kill.
Johnson led the Mavs for the second straight game with 15 kills and 19 digs. Murray would add 14 kills and seven block assists. Smith would finish the match with 29 digs.
The Mavs return to action at 5 p.m. today as they take on Grambling State
