Sept. 6, 2008
Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, California - The host-school San Francisco Dons defeated UT Arlington 25-16, 25-16, 25-13, on Saturday morning at the USF Asics/Powerade Challenge at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco. The Dons improved to 2-0 in this weekend's tournament action and becomes the favorite to win the tournament title. San Francisco has claimed the tournament championship in four of the last five seasons. UT Arlington is now 3-3 overall and San Francisco improves to 3-2 overall.
UT Arlington kept the first set close early-on with three kills from sophomore Bianca Sauls, senior Ally Wade and freshman Christy Driscoll to tie the score at 5-5. USF gradually pulled away, despite four kills from Sauls, to take the set 25-16. Both teams were efficient offensively in the first set with a combined six errors. The Mavericks hit .346 while the Dons tallied a potent .393 percentage.
The only lead the Mavs had was on the first point of the set on a San Francisco hitting error.
The Dons opened the second set blistering the Mavs with six kills to take a 6-2 lead. San Francisco never trailed in the set posting 17 kills while UT Arlington tallied only nine kills. The Mavs cut the Dons' lead to five (7-12) on one occasion, with a kill from Aguilera and a block assist from Sauls and freshman Emily Shearin.
Sauls continued to be the bright spot for the Mavericks collecting four kills and three blocks in the second set.
San Francisco showed its all-around game with eight team blocks in the third and final set. The Dons opened the third frame recording five blocks and two kills to take a 10-3 lead. Driscoll followed with two kills and a block assist to bring UT Arlington within four points (6-10).
The Mavericks later went on a 3-0 run with a kill from Driscoll, an ace from freshman libero Alicia Shaffer and a kill from Aguilera to cut the Dons' lead to 13-9. San Francisco dominated the remainder of the set with six kills, three aces and one block to win the set, 25-13.
The Dons posted a .400 hitting percentage, which is the highest percentage for a UT Arlington opponent this season.
Sauls and Aguilera led UT Arlington with eight kills apiece. Shaffer posted a team-high eight digs and sophomore setter Raegan Daniel collected 23 assists. San Francisco sophomore right-side hitter Sarah Mandala led the Dons with 13 kills and a .458 hitting percentage.
UT Arlington will finish play at the USF Asics/Powerade Challenge later today taking on UC-Santa Barbara (1-2) at 5 p.m.
MATCH NOTES:
It was the first meeting between these two programs since 1992... It was the first time UT Arlington had failed to score at least 15 points in a set since Oct. 13, 2006, against McNeese State (14 points)... UT Arlington falls to 1-2 all time against San Francisco, including 0-2 at War Memorial Gym... The Mavs drop to 6-6 against West Coast Conference opponents.
USF ASICS/POWERADE CHALLENGE RESULTS
Friday, September 5
UT Arlington defeated Utah State, 3-1
San Francisco defeated UC-Santa Barbara, 3-1
Saturday, September 6
San Francisco defeated UT Arlington, 3-0
UC-Santa Barbara vs. Utah State (1 p.m.)
UT Arlington vs. UC-Santa Barbara (5 p.m.)
San Francisco vs. Utah State (7 p.m.)
