Oct. 2, 2009
Box Score
BEAUMONT, Texas - The UT Arlington volleyball team lost its first conference match of the season on Friday night during a 19-25, 17-25, 18-25 loss at the hands of Lamar at McDonald Gym in Beaumont. The Mavericks (6-9, 2-1) were led by Amanda Aguilera's nine kills and 14 digs in the loss while Lamar improves to 7-7 overall and to 2-1 in league play.
"Lamar served the ball extremely well tonight," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "They kept the pressure on us with their serve, because they also didn't miss any serves. I just don't think we ever got into a rhythm with our passing."
Tara Frantz finished with eight kills, Bianca Sauls had seven kills, seven assists and six digs while Raegan Daniel notched 22 assists, six digs and four kills for the Mavericks.
The lead changed hands six times and there were 10 ties in the opening frame before Lamar grabbed a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 first-set victory. Back-to-back kills from Sauls tied the score at 18 before the Cardinals finished the set on a 7-1 run that included four kills, an ace and two UTA hitting errors.
Aguilera had three kills and six digs while Emily Shearin and Sauls each had a pair of kills in the set. Aguilera finished with four kills in the final set to lead all Mavericks with nine kills.
"When Amanda got the opportunity to take some good swings she did take good swings and I was pleased to see she was close to a double-double. She also played well in the back row for us."
Aguilera recorded a kill while Shearin and Daniel teamed on a block assist to make the score 5-5 in the second set and then Lamar went on a 12-2 run to take its largest lead in the set, 17-7. The Mavs fought back twice with a pair of 5-0 runs in the frame but would eventually drop the second set 25-17.
Frantz tallied five kills to lead all players in the set, Shaffer picked up four digs and Aguilera notched a half dozen digs during the second-set loss.
UT Arlington led 13-9 to start the third set, following four straight points which included kills from Sauls, Frantz and Daniel along with a Lamar hitting error. Lamar followed with five straight points to regain the lead, 14-13. UTA took the lead once more on a block assist by Eld-hah Kaswatuka and Sauls to make the score 15-14, but Lamar then scored eight straight points to grab a 22-15 advantage on its way to a 25-18 third-set victory.
"We started the third set with a lot of emotion and with a lot of confidence," Seymour said. "But then one of their servers got back there and rattled off three or four points and then we just could never catch up."
The Mavericks will continue Southland Conference play on the road on Saturday, Oct. 3, with a 7 p.m. first serve against Sam Houston State (10-10, 2-1) in Huntsville, Texas, at Johnson Coliseum.
MATCH NOTES:
• UT Arlington drops to 48-26-2 all-time against Lamar with a 9-9 record against the Cardinals in Beaumont... Lamar has won four in a row over UTA and five of the last six matches overall.
• The Mavericks 46 digs are their third most in a three-set match this season (54 vs. TCU, 51 vs. Gardner-Webb)
• Amanda Aguilera's nine kills are the fourth most by a Maverick in a three-set match this season... Aguilera's 14 digs are the second most by a Maverick in a three-set match this season (Alicia Shaffer 15 digs vs. Oral Roberts)... It is the second time this season Aguilera has led the Mavs in digs... It is the third straight match Aguilera has had at least 10 digs, and her sixth double-figure digs match of the season.
