Aug. 30, 2008
Box Score
DENTON, Texas - UT Arlington captured a second-place finish at the Mean Green Volleyball Classic with a 25-13, 15-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-11 victory over host-school North Texas on Saturday evening at the Mean Green Volleyball Center in Denton. Texas Tech won the tournament championship with a 3-0 record. UT Arlington improves to 2-1 overall and the Mean Green fall to 1-2 on the season. The Mavericks also improve to 12-1 in five-set matches since 2006.
"I told them this is what we needed, to go five set to see what we are made of right now," Mavericks head coach Diane Seymour said. "They really showed what they were made of especially with eight freshmen and such a young team."
The Mavs came out aggressive at the net recording six blocks taking a 16-5 lead. In the midst of the Mavs' run, middle blocker Emily Shearin tallied a kill, two solo blocks and two block assists helping UT Arlington during a 9-0 run.
UT Arlington recorded a .632 hitting percentage in the first set (13 kills-1 error-19 attacks). Sophomore setter Raegan Daniel led the offense distributing 12 assists while the Mavs tallied 13 kills.
Sophomore right-side hitter Bianca Sauls helped give the Mavs a first-set victory with an ace and four kills, while senior Ally Wade came off the bench to chip in four kills (five attacks) in the Mavericks' dominating 25-13 win.
In the second set, the Mavericks and Mean Green traded leads three times and had six ties before North Texas went on a 10-0 run to take a 19-8 lead to force a second UT Arlington timeout. The Mean Green went on to tally a 25-15 second-set win.
The Mavericks' offense went backwards in the second set with a .037 hitting percentage, as North Texas notched 16 kills on 26 attempts (.385).
Driscoll and freshman Amanda Aguilera jump-started UT Arlington in the third set with a combined five kills while taking a 9-3 advantage. The Mavericks then took a nine-point (15-6) lead on Daniel's ace that forced a North Texas timeout.
Driscoll and Daniel collected two kills each and UT Arlington took advantage of two North Texas errors to close out the third set, 25-19.
Late in the fourth set, North Texas looked to be pulling away after back-to-back points on a block and kill to take a 20-16 lead. Head coach Diane Seymour called a timeout and then saw her squad make an adjustment by tying the score, 21-21, largely due to Sauls' three kills. It wasn't enough as North Texas evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-23 win.
Aguilera sparked the Mavs in the fifth set. After the Mean Green went on a 3-0 run to tie the score at 3-3, Aguilera gave the lead back to UT Arlington making a pin-point accurate shot for a kill and then served the Mavs to two additional points to take a 7-4 lead.
Sauls and Driscoll then capped the win for the Mavericks with a kill and block, respectively.
Sauls led the Mavericks with 16 kills and posted a double-double with a team-high 10 digs. Aguilera chipped in 13 kills and Daniel collected a career-high 45 assists. Sauls was named to the All-Tournament team following the North Texas match.
"We did a good job at not getting down," Sauls said. "We really played hard tonight."
The Mavericks carried a balanced offensive attack with seven different players recording at least three kills.
The Mavericks will be on the road Wednesday, Sept. 3, taking on SMU at 7 p.m. in Dallas.
Final Mean Green Volleyball Classic Standings
First Place: Texas Tech (3-0)
Second Place: UT Arlington (2-1)
Third Place: North Texas (1-2)
Fourth Place: Jackson State (0-3)
All-Tournament Team
Brandi Hood (MVP) - Texas Tech
Caroline Witte - Texas Tech
Bianca Sauls - UT Arlington
Salah Schoenecke - North Texas
Shunta Issac - Jackson State
MATCH NOTES
UT Arlington improves to 53-5 all time against North Texas, including 23-2 in Denton... The Mavs' 2-1 start to the season marks the third straight campaign with at least two victories in their opening tournament of the season.
