Oct. 22, 2010
Match Notes 
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Saturday afternoon's match at Northwestern State is a far cry from a must-win for UT Arlington.
At the same time, the Mavericks know their current four-match losing streak has come at a bad time for their hopes of reaching the Southland Conference Tournament.
Going into Saturday, UT Arlington is 3-6 in conference matches and tied for ninth in the standings. The top eight teams go to Huntsville for the conference tournament.
It's not as if the Mavericks have lost lopsided contests for the most part in the stretch either. They won games against Central Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin - playing very well against the Ladyjacks through the first two sets. UTA also took Sam Houston State to five sets.
The only time UT Arlington was defeated soundly during that stretch came Wednesday at Texas State when the Bobcats swept the Mavs and held them to 18 points or fewer in every set.
UTA coach Diane Seymour offered no excuses following the team's first three-set loss of the season.
"We just ran into a red-hot Texas State team," Seymour said. "Sometimes that happens in sports: You have an off-night and your opponent simply can't do anything wrong. Now we just have to bounce back and focus on Northwestern State."
With seven matches remaining in the season, the Mavs know this would be an ideal time to return to the form that allowed them to win three of four matches only a month ago.
Seymour said before Wednesday's match that her focus was set beyond making the SLC Tournament. She thought, with a 6-2 record, her team could avoid the 7- or 8-seed, which would pit the Mavs against one of the division winners.
Finishing 6-2, now, would require UT Arlington (9-14, 3-6) to win six of its final seven matches.
The Mavericks have a chance to reverse their recent fortunes Saturday against a Northwestern State team that has also struggled in recent weeks. The Lady Demons' 3-0 win over non-conference foe Centenary snapped their four-match losing streak.
Northwestern State is 11-11 overall, but just 2-7 in SLC matches.
UTA is simply trying to shake one of its worst performances of the season. Alicia Shaffer and Bianca Sauls were bright spots, but even usually reliable Amanda Aguilera struggled against the Bobcats, recording fewer than 10 kills for the first time since Sept. 18.
On the night, the Mavs finished with a .000 attack percentage.
Now that match is in the rearview mirror, which is exactly where UT Arlington aims to move its losing streak on Saturday.
