Sept. 5, 2008
Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, California - Freshman Tara Frantz led all players with 15 kills leading UT Arlington to a 15-25, 25-21, 25-14, 28-26 victory over Utah State on Friday evening at the USF Asics/Powerade Challenge at War Memorial in San Francisco. Freshman Amanda Aguilera added 12 kills and junior Teena Sobczak tallied a match-high three aces to give the Mavericks (3-2) their third victory of the season. Utah State remains winless on the season at 0-5.
"We have been letting people hang in there and then they get away from us," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "When we did that in the first set, we reminded them of what happened Wednesday, and told them it is now or never. We told them that if everyone makes one play that can be the difference, and I think we did that."
Neither team led by more than two points in the first set until Utah State benefited from three consecutive errors by the Mavericks to take a 19-15 lead, when Seymour called the first timeout of the match.
The Aggies never let up finishing the first set on a 9-0 run, taking the first set 25-15 to grab a 1-0 lead in the match. Utah State tallied a .333 hitting percentage in the first set, while Aguilera and sophomore Bianca Sauls each recorded three kills for the Mavs. Both teams collected 11 kills, but the Mavericks eight hitting errors led to a dismal .094 hitting percentage.
Frantz, who was coming off her previous season-high 11 kills against SMU, sparked the Mavs in the second set with seven kills. After a Utah State point evened the match at 12, Frantz collected her sixth kill of the set, Sobczak dropped in two consecutive aces, and Aguilera added a kill to give UT Arlington a 16-12 lead to force a Utah State timeout.
"My adrenaline was pumping and when that happens I feel like I can jump a thousand feet in the air," Frantz said. "Once I have that mentality that is when everything works."
The Mavericks prevailed in the second set, 25-21, to snap a four-set losing streak that started with a three-set sweep against SMU on Wednesday. Utah State didn't go down easy as they cut the Mavs' lead to two points (23-21), but Frantz notched another kill and freshman Christy Driscoll finished the victory with a solo block to even the match at 1-1.
Utah State came out sloppy in the third set with four errors that led to four of the Mavericks' first seven points. UT Arlington used a balanced attack midway through the set as five players (Aguilera, Sauls, Frantz, Driscoll, Raegan Daniel) all recorded kills to give UT Arlington a 19-12 lead.
The Mavs earned the third-set victory going on an 8-2 run to win the third set, 25-14. It was the second time this season that UT Arlington has held an opponent to less than 15 points in a set. Frantz notched five kills as the Mavericks posted a .480 hitting percentage (14 kills-2 errors-25 attempts) in the set.
UT Arlington had to rally in the fourth set after trailing 10-15. The Mavs went on an 8-1 run to re-take the lead, 18-16. The Aggies collected themselves after a timeout posting four straight kills to take the lead, 18-20, forcing a UT Arlington timeout.
The Mavs claimed the victory when Frantz collected her final kill, Driscoll and Aguilera combined for a block assist and then Utah State committed an error to end the match, 28-26.
Sauls posted a season-high 11 digs and Daniel led the Mavericks with 41 assists while chipping in five digs and two blocks.
UT Arlington will be back in action at the USF Asics/Powerade Challenge on Saturday, taking on host-school San Francisco at 11 a.m. and UC-Santa Barbara at 5 p.m.
MATCH NOTES:
UT Arlington improves to 4-6 all time against Utah State, including 3-4 on a neutral court... The Mavericks have now won four straight matches over the Aggies... UT Arlington improves to 14-24 against opponents from the Western Athletic Conference... It was the Mavericks first second-set win since the season-opener against Jackson State.
