Oct. 9, 2009
Box Score
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Tara Frantz had a match-high 13 kills and Alicia Shaffer led all players with 15 digs but it wasn't enough as UT Arlington fell 23-25, 18-25, 29-31 to Texas State in front of 953 fans on Friday night at Strahan Coliseum.
The Mavericks (6-11, 2-3 SLC) posted more digs (47-42) and blocks (8.0-5.0) than the Bobcats (9-11, 3-2 SLC) but it was Texas State who improved to 7-1 at home while UTA drops to 0-6 on the road this season.
"There is only one thing our team should be disappointed about and that is the first set," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "You can't let a set like that slip away against a good team on their home court, especially a team as tough as Texas State. But I commended our team for battling back, especially in set three. We could have shut down but we didn't, we battled back."
Bianca Sauls finished with seven kills, 10 digs and four blocks, Raegan Daniel had a match-high 29 assists and five digs while Emily Shearin added five kills, three blocks and two digs for the Mavericks.
The lead changed five times in the early going before kills by Sauls and Christy Driscoll - along with two Texas State errors - gave UT Arlington a 14-11 lead, which forced the Bobcats to call the first timeout of the match.
The Bobcats erased the Mavericks lead, which grew to as many as four points, as they finished the set on a 9-3 run to win the opening set, 25-23. The Mavs dropped the frame despite out-hitting Texas State .355-to-.268. Frantz led UTA in the set with five kills (.400 hitting percentage) while the Bobcats had plenty of firepower from outside hitter Jessica Weynand (7 kills). Shaffer led all players with eight digs in the first set.
The Mavericks used a kill from Driscoll and a pair of winners from Frantz to tie the score at 10 in the second set before the Bobcats used a 5-2 run to grab a 15-12 advantage midway through the set. Texas State never trailed again in the set as they took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-18 second set victory.
"Our play as a team is there, we just need to find some more passion because right now we are just so up and down," Frantz said. "But I love the fact that we never gave up. We continued to build ourselves back up throughout the match and I think that is a big step in the right direction for us as a team right now."
The Bobcats' 14 kills combined with 10 UTA errors was too much for the Mavericks to overcome in the second set. Frantz' five kills matched her first-set output while Sauls added four digs and a block for the Mavs in the set.
"Tara is definitely putting up the numbers that we need," Seymour said about Frantz' performance. "She has put up double-figure kills almost every match in conference and that is exactly what we want from our best outside hitter."
Texas State separated a back and forth third set early on with an 8-3 run to grab a 17-13 lead, forcing a UTA timeout. Six of the Bobcats' eight points during the run came from Maverick errors while Texas State also added a kill and an ace.
After trailing by four points, 15-19, UT Arlington fought back with a 9-5 run that tied the score at 24. The Mavericks then battled until the end while fighting off four match points before a Bobcat kill and UTA hitting error gave Texas State the match with a 31-29 third-set victory.
UT Arlington will be back at home on Wednesday, Oct. 14, hosting Northwestern State for a 7 p.m. first serve at Texas Hall.
MATCH NOTES:
UT Arlington drops to 39-22 all-time against Texas State with a 12-11 record against the Bobcats in San Marcos... The loss extends the Bobcats win streak to three matches over the Mavericks, as they swept the conference series last season... UT Arlington's last win over Texas State in San Marcos was on Sept. 29, 2007 (32-30, 18-30, 30-28, 30-27).
It is only the second time this season that the Mavericks have led their opponent in blocks and lost the match (6-2)... UTA is now 1-11 when trailing their opponent in hitting percentage (.184-to-.186)... The Mavericks' 37 kills were their third most in a three-set match this season (45 vs. Texas Southern; 43 vs. Gardner-Webb)... It was the Mavs' third most digs (47) in a three-set match (54 vs. TCU; 51 vs. Gardner-Webb).
Tara Frantz led the Mavericks in kills for the second straight match and for the fifth time this season... She now has at least 10 kills in five of the last six matches and has double-figure kills in seven matches on the season... She is averaging a team best 3.3 kills per set during five SLC matches.
Alicia Shaffer led all players with 15 digs against Texas State... She has led the Mavs in digs for two straight matches and has been the team leader in digs six times this season... Dating back to last season, Shaffer has led the Mavericks in digs 24 times... Shaffer now has at least 10 digs in her last five matches and has notched double-figure digs in nine of the last 11 matches.
Bianca Sauls recorded 10 digs and now has seven matches this season with a double-figure digs total... Sauls has recorded at least six digs in every SLC match... Sauls recorded her 500th career kill and now needs only two digs to record her 500th career dig... Sauls now has 506 career kills.
Emily Shearin hit .400 with five kills, one attack error with 10 attempts... She is the only Maverick to hit above .200 during every SLC match this season (five straight matches).
Teena Sobczak led the Mavericks with a pair of aces... Sobczak has led the Mavs in aces on seven occasions this season - which is the most by any Maverick this season.
