Sept. 20, 2007

Box Score

UT Arlington Head Volleyball Coach Diane Seymour saw the fruits of a tough, non-conference schedule pay off as the Mavericks defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3-0 in the Southland Conference opener for both teams Thursday night at Texas Hall.

UT Arlington (8-6, 1-0) won their third straight match with a 30-22, 30-23, 30-20 win over the Islanders. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi falls to 3-10 overall and 0-1.

A non-conference schedule that included matches against TCU, Houston, Miami (Fla.), Marquette, Iowa and then-25th-ranked Middle Tennessee, prepared UT Arlington for the upcoming SLC schedule.

"We played that tough schedule and early on in conference I think we will show we are extremely well prepared (for conference)," said Seymour. "

Sophomore Liz Curry got the start on the outside for the Mavs after a strong match with eight kills versus Ball State at the Iowa Tournament last week. She responded with a season-high nine kills and 13 digs.

"Liz has done a good job off the bench the past year and a half. It is time for her to show if she can hold (the position)," said Seymour. "She is every bit as good as Teena (Sobczak) and Bianca (Sauls). All three are extremely quick and can get to balls on the back row."

A strong defense for the Mavericks sparked the win. UT Arlington scooped up 48 digs in the opening two games and limited the Islanders to attack percentages of .105 in game one and .148 in game two.

A 12-3 run erased an 8-6 deficit in game two. At the end of the flurry, UT Arlington led 19-11 and never looked back.

UT Arlington won the opening game 30-22. The Mavericks jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never let the Islanders close. Curry led with four kills and Sobczak, who led the Mavs with 11 kills for the match, and Emily Nedderman added three each in the opening game.

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