Sept. 13, 2008
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UT Arlington/Hilton Invitational Tournament Central
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington battled No. 13 Middle Tennessee State on Saturday morning at the UT Arlington/Hilton Invitational at Texas Hall, but the nationally-ranked Blue Raiders prevailed with a four-set victory, 25-16, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21. The Mavs won the second set behind a .304 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Tara Frantz led UT Arlington with nine kills and a .143 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Ally Wade also collected nine kills for the Mavs.
The Mavericks dropped their fifth straight match and fall to 3-7 overall this season. Middle Tennessee remains unbeaten with an 8-0 overall record.
After Frantz led off the match with a kill to give UT Arlington a 1-0 lead, the Blue Raiders tied the score and never looked back taking the first set 25-16. Frantz notched three kills while sophomore setter Raegan Daniel posted eight assists in the first set.
There were five ties and two lead changes in the second set as the Mavericks defeated the Blue Raiders 25-18, to knot the match at 1-1. With the score tied at 6-6, UT Arlington received a kill from Wade, an ace from freshman Lauren Carpenter and a kill from Frantz to give the Mavs a 9-6 lead to force a Middle Tennessee timeout.
Frantz had four kills and Wade added three in the second-set victory. It was only the third set that Middle Tennessee has lost this season.
The Mavericks continued to hang tough against the Blue Raiders in the third set. UT Arlington capitalized on several MTSU errors in the set to take an 8-7 lead, following an attack error from sophomore outside hitter Izabela Kozon.
The Blue Raiders quickly regained the lead but the Mavs stormed back to tie the score, 15-15. Middle Tennessee finished the third set on a 10-3 run that included two aces from junior setter Leslie Clark that broke the 15-all tie.
The Blue Raiders capped the match in the fourth set recording 17 kills with a .290 hitting percentage. Four Middle Tennessee players notched double-figure kill totals, led by junior outside hitter Ashley Mead (15 kills). Middle Tennessee was also led by 6-foot-3, freshman outside hitter Lindsey Cheatham, who led all players with a .857 hitting percentage (12 kills-0 errors-14 attempts.
Daniel guided the Mavericks with 26 assists, five kills, four digs and four blocks. The 5-foot-9 sophomore from Arlington has now tallied 15 kills, 80 assists, 18 digs and six blocks over her last three matches played.
UT Arlington will play its final match in this weekend's tournament against South Carolina State (1-7) Saturday evening at 5 p.m. at Texas Hall.
MATCH NOTES:
Middle Tennessee State and UT Arlington's first meeting came last season at the Blue Raider Invitational in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where the then-No. 25 ranked Blue Raiders defeated the Mavs in a three-match sweep (30-16, 30-22, 30-22).
Tournament Recap:
Duke defeated South Carolina State (3-0)
It took just 58 minutes for Duke to knock off South Carolina State with a 25-14, 25-12, 25-13, victory in the second match on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bulldogs posted a -.023 hitting mark, while the Blue Devils unloaded with 46 kills and a .440 hitting percentage. Duke junior outside hitter Rachel Moss continued to impress the Hilton Invitational crowd with a match-high nine kills and a team-high nine digs. The Blue Devils and Middle Tennessee will battle tonight at 7 p.m. for the UT Arlington/Hilton Invitational Tournament crown.
UT ARLINGTON/HILTON INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Friday, September 12
No. 13 Middle Tennessee defeated South Carolina State (25-16, 25-11, 25-18)
Duke defeated UT Arlington (25-10, 25-15, 25-15)
Saturday, September 13
No. 13 Middle Tennessee defeated UT Arlington (25-16, 18-25, 25-18, 25-21)
Duke defeated South Carolina State (25-14, 25-12, 25-13)
UT Arlington vs. South Carolina State (5 p.m.)
No. 13 Middle Tennessee vs. Duke (7:30 p.m.)
