Nov. 7, 2009
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
| Press Conference 
ARLINGTON, Texas - Three players finished with double-figure kills and Alicia Shaffer led UT Arlington with a career-high 26 digs in the Mavericks 11-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Lamar on Senior Night at Texas Hall on Saturday. The victory secures UT Arlington (11-15, 7-7 SLC) a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament while Lamar drops to 13-12 overall and to 8-6 in the SLC.
"I think it was a very exciting match," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "I don't necessarily think it was a consistently well played match by either team throughout the match. I told our players that we need to make a strong statement against this team, because we might be seeing them in the conference tournament. Our team did a good job of that tonight."
Amanda Aguilera led all players with 14 kills, Tara Frantz had 13 kills and equaled a career best four blocks while Bianca Sauls recorded her third double-double this season with 10 kills and 14 digs. Shaffer's 26 digs are the most by a Maverick since Nov. 10, 2007.
A lackluster first set saw the Lady Cardinals post a 25-11 victory. UTA never led in the set and had six hitting errors (.059) as Lamar used 15 kills to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Shaffer put up eight digs in the first set.
UT Arlington took the second set, 25-23, after the Mavericks and Lady Cardinals had 14 ties and seven lead changes in a set that neither team led by more than two points. Aguilera had four kills on six swings and Sauls notched four kills with one hitting error on nine swings. Shaffer tallied five digs and setter Raegan Daniel collected 13 assists in the frame.
Daniel finished with her 10th double-double of the season with 40 assists and 12 digs to go with six kills and a pair of blocks.
The Mavericks trailed 19-20 late in the pivotal third set before Frantz sparked the Mavericks with five kills to guide UTA to the 25-21 victory.
Frantz recorded kills in all five swings with no errors while Aguilera chipped in four kills in the third set and Shaffer added six digs.
The Mavericks trailed 11-12 before going on a 9-3 run that put UT Arlington in the lead for good. During the run, UTA used kills from Aguilera, Daniel, Sauls and Christy Driscoll and capitalized on two Lamar hitting errors.
UT Arlington recognized senior Teena Sobczak prior to the match, who is the lone senior for the Mavericks. With the Mavs trailing 21-22 in the second set, Sobczak recorded a kill to tie the set, but went down on the play and did not return. She also recorded two digs in the match.
UT Arlington finishes the regular season on the road with a pair of matches next week at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 13 - 7 p.m.) and UTSA (Nov. 14 - 3:30 p.m.).
MATCH NOTES:
UT Arlington improves to 49-26-2 all-time against Lamar with a dominating 22-3 record over the Lady Cardinals in Arlington... the victory snaps a four-match losing streak to Lamar (last win on 10/14/06).
Mavericks finish season 7-1 in SLC matches at home... In SLC play, UTA went 6-1 at home in 2007 and had a perfect 9-0 record at Texas Hall in 2006.
Third time this season UT Arlington had three players with at least 10 kills and the first time since Sept. 26... also had three players with double-figure kills against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and had four players with at least 10 kills against UTSA (Sept. 24).
Mavericks second straight match with at least 10 blocks, as UTA finished with 11.0 against Lamar... UTA has nine matches this season with at least 10.0 blocks and are 9-0 in those matches.
It was the 13th time this season that UTA has limited its opponent to below a .200 hitting percentage... Lamar hit .204 on Saturday... UTA has held seven opponents below a .100 hitting percentage, which is the most since 2006 (7 times in 2006).
It was Bianca Sauls' 15th career double-double and third this season... UTA is 3-0 this season when Sauls puts away a double-double.
Raegan Daniel collects her 21st career double-double and 17th career match with at least 40 assists (40 vs. Lamar)... She now has seven matches this season with at least 40 assists... Daniel had 10 matches with 40 or more in 2008.
Amanda Aguilera led the Mavericks in kills for the second straight match and for the fourth time this season.
Alicia Shaffer has now led the Mavs in digs 11 times this season, including four of the last five matches... Shaffer has six career (4 this season) matches with at least 20 digs... Previous career-high was 25 at Sam Houston State this season on Oct. 3, 2009.
