Nov. 20, 2009
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Emily Shearin had a career-high 17 kills and Alicia Shaffer had a career best 27 digs, but it wasn't enough as No. 5 seed UT Arlington ended its season in a 25-21, 17-25, 21-25, 22-25 loss to No. 4 seed Lamar on Friday in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament at the Convocation Center in San Antonio. The Mavericks end their season with a 12-17 overall record while Lamar (15-13) advances to the SLC Tournament semifinals to face Texas State in a rematch of last year's SLC Tournament finals.
Christy Driscoll notched six kills and five blocks, Tara Frantz posted 12 kills, two digs and two blocks, Amanda Aguilera had nine kills and seven digs while Raegan Daniel added her 11th double-double of the season with 39 assists and 13 digs.
"I think our players fought hard today," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour. "In the first set we played well and won the set, second set we were a little sluggish, but I thought we got things going again and played pretty well in sets three and four."
Shearin collected four kills in her first four attempts and Frantz tallied five early kills for UT Arlington as the Mavericks jumped out to a 17-14 lead in the first set. With the Mavs trailing by a point (11-12), UTA went on a 6-2 run with a pair of kills from Frantz and Shearin and with a solo block from Driscoll to force a Lamar timeout.
UTA led the remainder of the opening set while Frantz led the way with eight kills and Shearin added seven kills on 11 attempts to help give the Mavs a 25-21 victory. Driscoll posted a pair of solo blocks and Shearin also had a solo block. Daniel collected a team-high seven digs and 13 assists in the frame.
Aguilera had a hand in five of the Mavericks' first seven points in the second set. She posted three kills, one ace and teamed with Driscoll for a block assist, but Lamar took a 13-7 lead to force a UTA timeout. Back-to-back kills from Shearin and Aguilera along with three Lamar errors brought the Mavs within three points (13-16) before Lamar called its first timeout of the set.
Lamar then pulled away with a 6-0 run and tied the match at a set apiece with a 25-17 second-set victory. Aguilera had four kills and Shearin added a pair while Shaffer notched a team best eight digs in the set.
The Mavericks held a brief 3-1 lead in the third set following a kill from Daniel, but Lamar answered going on a 7-1 run - which included four UTA errors - to take an 8-4 lead. UTA cut Lamar's lead to two points, 13-15, but the Lady Cardinals answered with a 4-0 run to force a UTA timeout.
Lamar went on to win the third set, 25-21, with a .257 hitting percentage - UTA hit .051 (10 kills - 8 errors - 39 attempts). Frantz, Shearin and Aguilera all had a pair of kills for the Mavericks and Shearin collected four block assists.
Shearin's 13th kill of the match cut the Lady Cardinals' lead to a point (10-11), but Lamar followed with three straight kills to take a 14-10 lead. Four Maverick kills in a five-point stretch brought UTA back within a point at 15-16. The balanced UTA attack included kills from Sauls, Daniel, Aguilera and Driscoll during the Mavericks' run.
It was enough as Lamar closed out the match with eight kills among its final nine points. Lamar was led by Kaci Brewer (14 kills, 14 digs), Wendy Krell (12 kills), Adrianne Meengs (43 assists, 9 kills, 6 digs) and Bailey Smith (23 digs).
"I'm very glad we were able to battle back in the final two sets, we should be proud of that," Seymour said. "I don't think we played our best volleyball today, but sometimes that happens and we came up just a little bit short."
Head Coach Diane Seymour
On the performance of Emily Shearin (career-high 17 kills) and Alicia Shaffer (career-high 27 digs)
"I'm very proud of our sophomore class in general, and I'm proud of all our players. Emily had not put up good offensive numbers against Lamar in the first two meetings, and we talked about that. She definitely put up offensive numbers for us today. Alicia, ever since Teena went down, has really stepped up her play for us. She was definitely all over the court for us today and did a very good job in serve receive."
Sophomore Alicia Shaffer
On the energy of the team to start the match.
"We knew coming out today that this could be our last match or our first of three this weekend. We came out of the gates with a lot of emotion and energy, trying to get the momentum on our side."
On career-high 27 digs
"I've really been disciplined on my defense and have just tried to pick up as much from our coaches as possible, because they provide valuable information. Whenever they say something you really need to listen, because if you do it obviously works - I have had career-highs repeatedly over the last few matches. Since Teena went down I have been really concentrating on my serve-receive and have just tried to step up and to be confident."
Sophomore Emily Shearin
On team's approach coming into the tournament.
"I thought we played some good volleyball today. We never gave up and continued to fight throughout the match. We knew that it was all-or-nothing, and I thought we all did our best."
On career-high 17 kills
"I wanted to be an option offensively for Raegan (Daniel). I wanted to be someone for her to go to. That was my goal was to be more offensive. I just gave it my all."
MATCH NOTES:
UT Arlington drops to 44-18 all-time in Southland Conference Tournament action with a 4-4 record in matches played in San Antonio... The Mavericks fall to 8-5 against Lamar at the SLC Tournament and the loss snapped a six match streak against the Lady Cardinals in SLC Tournament play... UTA falls to 21-5 in SLC Tournament first-round matches... UTA has lost three straight matches in SLC Tournament play.
