Oct. 30, 2009

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. - UT Arlington dropped its eighth road match of the season to McNeese State 18-25, 19-25, 20-25 on Friday evening at Memorial Gym. McNeese State came from behind in the first set and used big scoring runs in the final two sets to knock off the Mavericks for the fourth consecutive time in Lake Charles.

UT Arlington (9-13, 5-5) falls to 0-5 in SLC play on the road while the Cowgirls (17-7, 5-5) have won three of their last four matches.

"We played from behind almost the entire match - except in the first set," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "You aren't going to win very many matches when you play from behind. Our passing kind of fell apart and we never got into a rhythm after that."

Tara Frantz led the Mavericks with 11 kills, Bianca Sauls chipped in six kills, seven digs and two blocks, Raegan Daniel added 27 assists, eight digs and seven kills while Alicia Shaffer led all players with 14 digs.

UT Arlington notched a pair of six-point leads (8-2 and 9-3) early in the first set, in large part to kills from Emily Shearin, Teena Sobczak and Sauls. The Cowgirls put themselves back in the set with a 10-4 run that included six McNeese State kills to even the score at 13.

McNeese State put away the Mavericks in the first set, 25-18, as they finished the frame on a 9-2 run after the set was last tied at 16. The Cowgirls recorded six kills and an ace, and took advantage of two UTA errors to lead 1-0 in the match.

Frantz and Shearin led the Mavs with three kills apiece while Shaffer led all players in the set with five digs.

The Mavericks and Cowgirls traded leads and saw the score tied on eight occasions before back-to-back McNeese State hitting errors made the score 10-10 in the second set. The Mavericks would not lead again in the set as the Cowgirls pulled ahead and finished with a 25-19 victory. McNeese State's final five points of the set came on UTA errors.

Frantz came away with three kills in the second set while Shaffer jumped into double-figure digs with 12 after collecting seven in the second set. Daniel added three kills and eight assists in the frame.

Frantz opened the third set with four kills and Shearin, Driscoll and Daniel each added one each, but McNeese State didn't commit an error until the 27th point of the set to take a 18-9 lead. Sauls' final kill of the match pulled the Mavericks within four (20-24) before the Cowgirls finished the match on a kill to record the three-set sweep.

"It was good seeing Tara get to double-figure kills in a match on the road," Seymour said. "She got a lot of sets tonight, also because we didn't pass well, so that means our outsides got a lot of sets. Thankfully, Tara did a good job for us tonight."

UT Arlington continues its road trip with a 4 p.m. first serve on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Stephen F. Austin at William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches, Texas.

MATCH NOTES:
UT Arlington drops to 29-15 all-time against McNeese State with a 16-6 record in matches played in Lake Charles, La... Mavericks have lost four straight matches to the Cowgirls in Lake Charles (last win on Oct. 25, 2003)... McNeese State has won four of the last seven matches against UTA.

Mavericks drop to 1-13 this season when trailing their opponent in hitting percentage... The Mavericks hit .168 while the Cowgirls hit .261... McNeese's hitting percentage is the highest for a UTA opponent since Lamar hit .271 seven matches ago (10/2)... UTA is 0-7 this season (0-2 in SLC play) when its opponent hits above .250.

UTA was out-blocked 7.0-to-3.0, which is only the second time in SLC play the Mavs have trailed their opponents in total team blocks (0-2)... UTA is 0-8 this season when trailing its opponents in blocks.

The Mavericks have only one match remaining in the month of October and enter Saturday's match with a 3-5 record in the month... UTA falls to 2-4 in Friday matches this season (0-3 in SLC play).

Tara Frantz led the Mavericks in kills for the seventh time this season with her second most kills in a three-set match (13 vs. Texas State - 10/9)... Frantz also matched season-highs in assists (1, four times) and digs (3, twice)... Frantz totaled over 10 kills for the second straight match and for the ninth time this season.

Emily Shearin hit .083 (5 kills - 4 errors - 12 attacks) Friday night, snapping a nine match streak of hitting at least .200... Shearin also finished with one block, ending a streak of four straight matches with at least six.

Alicia Shaffer led the Mavs in digs for the fourth time in the last seven matches and for the eighth time of the season... Shaffer has been the Mavs' team leader in digs 26 times in her two-year career... Shaffer has recorded at least 10 digs in 10 of the last 11 matches - including the last four in a row - and 15 times overall this season.

Freshman Rachel Sellari tallied her first career ace in the third set to make the score 20-14... Sellari also posted a dig in the match.