University of Texas Arlington
Gardner-Webb
Mavs Dominate Gardner-Webb, Sauls Named All-Tourney
8/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 29, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. - Nine UT Arlington players tallied at least one kill as the Mavericks defeated Gardner-Webb 25-20, 25-16, 25-13, to claim third place at the Illinois State Redbird Classic on Saturday afternoon at Redbird Arena. Junior Bianca Sauls finished with six kills and tied for a match-high 13 digs on the way to being named all-tournament team. UT Arlington improves to 1-2 overall and the Bulldogs drop to 0-3.
"Obviously it's good to get a win," UT Arlington head coach Diane Seymour said. "I thought in sets one and two we were a little up and down and I was unhappy about that. We talked about that between the second and third set and I really challenged them to go out and earn 20 points and get off that rollercoaster, and they did."
After racing out to a seven-point lead (13-6) in the first set, UT Arlington stumbled with four errors during Gardner-Webb's 12-4 run which gave the Bulldogs their first lead, 18-17.
The Mavericks answered after a timeout with an 8-2 run to finish off the first set with a 25-20 win. UT Arlington had six different players tally a kill in the set with Sauls, Raegan Daniel and Emily Shearin leading the way with three kills each.
"It feels great that our hard work has finally paid off," Shearin said about getting the team's first win of the season. "We just really concentrated on working hard on playing all the way until the last point."
UT Arlington used eight errors from the Bulldogs in the second set to build a 17-13 lead. Shearin notched her second ace of the match and contributed four kills while Alicia Shaffer and Christy Driscoll each had a block assist.
UT Arlington took the second set 25-16, finishing the frame on a 9-2 run. UT Arlington hit .257 (13 kills-4 errors-35 attacks) in the set while Gardner-Webb posted more hitting errors (10) than kills (9) with a -.026 hitting percentage.
No Maverick had more than eight kills in the match, but having nine players all record at least one is an accomplishment that occurred only three times in 2008. "We obviously like it when Bianca can have 19 kills like she did against Illinois State, but we don't want her to have to do that every night," Seymour said. "The biggest challenge I gave to Raegan was to get Emily and Eld-hah involved."
The Mavericks dominated the third set after starting with a 12-1 lead. Sauls recorded two aces and Daniel added one all coming around seven UTA kills. Kaswatuka put down four kills in the third frame while the Mavericks hit .344 (16 Kills-5 Errors-32 Attacks) as a team.
Daniel collected her second straight double-double with 32 assists and tied for the team-high with 13 digs. Shearin just missed her first career double-double with eight kills and nine digs to go with a team-leading .438 hitting percentage. She also led the Mavs with three aces. Kaswatuka also had a solid match with eight kills, a .400 hitting percentage and two blocks.
"I know that all of our hitters are capable of getting kills," Daniel said. "I try to see which way the middles are going and then set the opposite direction so that I can get our hitters a split in the defense. That way there isn't just one hitter I have to rely on setting each time."
Sauls averaged 3.8 kills and 2.7 digs per set during the tournament. She has now earned all-tournament team recognition in the Mavs last three tournaments, including the Mean Green Classic and the University of San Francisco Asics/Powerade Challenge in 2008. In addition, Sauls' first kill of the match marked the 400th of her career. Sauls also collected her 350th career dig in the match.
"That is a well deserved honor for Bianca," Seymour said of Sauls being named all-tournament. "Bianca is a dynamic player, and I've said it all along, she is our best player. I think she passed the ball extremely well for us, and that isn't something she has had to do before. And she is still getting back into volleyball shape. I think the injury from last year has healed, but she still has to get back into that game-speed shape."
Shaffer's numbers mirrored Shearin's as she finished with eight kills, nine digs and two blocks. Freshman Jessica Jiles made her collegiate debut and finished with a kill on two attacks. Freshman Charae Grosser also posted her first career kill with three attacks while freshman Rachel Sellari notched her first career dig.
UT Arlington will play a midweek, non-conference match on Tuesday, Sept. 1, against Arkansas at Barnhill Arena at 7 p.m. in Fayetteville.
Match Notes:
The match marked the first-ever meeting between UT Arlington and Gardner-Webb... The Mavericks are now 2-0 against Big South Conference opponents, also defeating Winthrop in 1973, the first year of UTA volleyball... Daniel now has 13 career double-doubles... Eld-hah Kaswatuka's eight kills are a career-high... UT Arlington had three matches last season where nine players had at least one kill, including matches against Utah State (9/5), Southeastern Louisiana (10/24) and Lamar (11/8)... The Mavericks went 1-2 in matches last season where at least nine players had a kill... The Mavericks hit .344 in the final set, which is the best this season... The last time the Mavericks hit over .340 in a set was in the 2008 season finale against UTSA in the third set where they hit .471 (18 kills - 2 errors - 34 attacks) in a 25-19 set victory at Texas Hall... The Mavericks held Gardner-Webb to a .009 hitting percentage (24 kills - 23 errors - 108 attacks), which is their lowest opponent hitting percentage since UTA held Prairie View A&M to a -.019 hitting percentage (31 kills - 34 errors - 155 attacks) on August 27, 2005, which was the 2005 season opener... Emily Shearin is just one kill shy of recording her 100th for her career... Shearin is also six block assists shy of recording her 100th in her career.
Illinois State 2009 Redbird Classic All-Tournament Team
Serena Cate (RS) - Oral Roberts
Mallory Leggett (OH) - Illinois State
Bianca Sauls (OH) - UT Arlington
Juliane Vieira (S) - Oral Roberts
Tabitha Visk (MB) - Illinois State
Laura Wilcox (MB) - Gardner Webb
