Nov. 14, 2008
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - Freshman Christy Driscoll equaled a season-high with 10 blocks and recorded her second double-double of the season with 10 digs while the UT Arlington volleyball team picked its third five-set victory of the season defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8, on Friday night at Texas Hall.
Southland Conference Freshman of the Year candidate Amanda Aguilera added her ninth double-double in conference play with a team-high 15 kills and 16 digs. Sophomore setter Raegan Daniel notched her team-leading 10th double-double with 41 assists and 11 digs while freshman libero Alicia Shaffer led the Mavs with 19 digs.
"The match started well and ended well," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "I thought we got off to a really good start in game one and then we hit a lull throughout the match but we were able to gut it up to get it into a game five."
The Mavericks battled back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set, which they were able to win giving the UT Arlington volleyball program a 14-5 record in five-set matches since 2006.
UT Arlington also equaled a season-high 16 blocks, matching their blocking effort in their season-opening weekend against North Texas (Aug. 30).
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi handed the Mavs 17 of their 30 points in the first set off errors, as the Islanders hit .025 as UT Arlington grabbed a 1-0 lead in the match.
After the Islanders bounced back with consecutive set victories in the second and third sets, UT Arlington held off defeat by going on an 11-5 run to close the fourth set.
Following an Islander ace and back-to-back Texas A&M-Corpus Christi kills, Seymour called a timeout which regrouped the Mavericks before their final run.
Sophomore Bianca Sauls chipped in two kills after the timeout and senior Ally Wade posted a kill to put the Mavericks back in the lead for good.
Wade, a senior from Richardson, Texas, finished the match with 13 kills and a career-high seven blocks. She also equaled a career-best three digs.
Wade, along with senior Michelle Schwartz, is playing in her final home weekend at Texas Hall. Wade says this weekend is one that she is looking forward to enjoying.
"I just wanted to go out there and have fun," Wade said. "I wanted to go out there and play for all of us in my last weekend. It has been nice to see how much we have improved this year."
Driscoll, who currently ranks third in the SLC averaging 1.06 blocks per set in conference play, had one of her top performances this season with a combined eight blocks in the final two sets.
Driscoll feels the experience she has gained and the confidence she has developed has helped her improve throughout the season.
"For me, whenever I make a mistake and the setter still sets you the next ball that gives me the confidence that I can do it," Driscoll said. "The more experience that I have had throughout the year has really helped me improve this season."
The Mavs jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fifth set and forced a total of 10 Islander errors to win the fifth set, 15-8.
Seymour was please with her team's performance, especially in the fifth and deciding set.
"I was very impressed with our play in game five," Seymour said. "Our intensity level was there for sure and we had some kids who played some really good ball tonight. Ally blocked the ball extremely well, Christy got on fire late in the match and I think Amanda stepped up towards the end of the match.
Driscoll tallied five blocks in the fifth set while Wade chipped in two blocks in the set.
Sauls finished with 11 kills in the match, which gave the Mavericks four players with a double-figures kills total.
Wade said four things would make her last match as a Maverick a success.
"Tomorrow I would like to go out as a good leader, a good teammate a good friend and with a win!"
UT Arlington will host UTSA on Saturday, Nov. 15, for its final match of the season for Senior Recognition Night with a 4 p.m. first serve. Wade and Schwartz will be honored before the start of tomorrow night's match at Texas Hall.
MATCH NOTES:
UT Arlington improves to 8-1 all time against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, with a 3-0 record in Arlington... Wade's 50 attack attempts is a career high... Shaffer's 19 digs was a team high, giving her 18 matches this season where she has led the team in digs... Aguilera moved past Bianca Sauls into sixth place on the all-time UT Arlington freshman attempts record book with 890 attempts... Shaffer moved into fifth-place all time on the UT Arlington freshman list for most digs with 373... Driscoll moved into a tie for eighth-place on the UT Arlington freshman record book for solo blocks with 12... she is now tied with Fannie Burton, who had 12 solo blocks during her freshman season in 1991... Freshman Emily Shearin moved into fourth-place all time on the UT Arlington freshman list for block assists with 86.
