Sept. 23, 2006

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington volleyball would not be denied as they overcame a 27-22 deficit in the fourth game to win their Southland Conference opener 30-32, 36-34, 30-17, 30-27 over Texas State Saturday evening in front of a rowdy crowd at Texas Hall.

Trailing by five points late, freshman Teena Sobczak put a ball away to get the Mavs jump server Emily Nedderman to the line. Torie Dacus and Sobczak would each record kills and Nedderman delivered a service ace to pull UTA within one. A TXST hitting error tied the game and UTA sealed the deal with three straight kills from Nedderman, Sobczak and Dacus to end the match.

TXST (3-11, 0-1 SLC) looked to have gained control of the fourth game when they used an 8-0 run of their own to turn a deficit into a 19-15 advantage. Gina Kalb and Sobczak would each record a pair of kills to help the Mavs stay close to set up their final run.

"To see Texas State go on that six or seven point swing was like oh no not again, but I don't think our kids ever thought that," said head coach Diane Seymour. "Then to be there with Nedderman jump serving at the end and to hold the ball in that situation where there best outside hitter was still in the front row is a really, really good sign for us."

UTA (12-5, 1-0 SLC) stumbled out of the gates and quickly fell behind 13-5. The Mavs took advantage of a few Bobcat hitting errors and gained their first advantage of the match at 20-19 on a Sobczak kill. The two teams would battle back-and-forth the remainder of the game until UTA had a game point at 30-29. Brittany Collins would tie the score for the Cats and two straight errors by the Mavs ended the first game.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, the teams put on an encore performance in the second game in what turned out to be the highest scoring game in UTA history since rally scoring was implemented in 2001 at 36-34. UTA would score the first four points of the game, but TXST would battle back and neither team was able to open up more than a four-point advantage the rest of the game. UTA was poised to take the game with a 29-27 advantage, but the Bobcats rallied and had a game point of their own. With the score tied 34-34, TXST outside hitter Lawrencia Brown had back-to-back errors to send the teams into intermission tied 1-1.

The Mavs came out a different team in the third game and never let the Cats settle in. The Mavs raced out to a 12-2 advantage and cruised to a 30-17 victory.

Sobczak led the Mavs offense with a career-best 22 kills. Johnson and Kalb joined her in double figures with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Libero Ashley Smith led the defensive charge as she had 27 of the Mavs 92 digs in the match. Sobczak and Johnson each added 19 and Dacus chipped in with 15. At the net, Kalb had eight block assists and Nedderman added six.

"Overall, I thought we were a little nervous in game one," said Seymour. "Texas State was incredible tonight. I felt good about game three cause we talked about it during the intermission and coming up to the floor and really taking it to them. Game four was a little scary. I really thought we would have came up in games three and four and taken care of them quicker, but we still need those games to show to ourselves, and maybe to the fans, that we have fight.

"Come back and watch us. We are going to win a lot more matches this year."

The Mavs return to the court on Sept. 29 as they take on preseason favorite Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches. First serve is set for 7 p.m.