Oct. 6, 2010
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ARLINGTON, Tex. - UT Arlington's strong blocking presence came through just in time to close out Texas State on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks had just five blocks entering match-point before Bianca Sauls, Amanda Aguilera and Christy Driscoll combined on a triple block. That block gave the Mavericks a 3-2 victory over the defending Southland Conference champ at Texas Hall.
"I think it's a huge victory," UTA coach Diane Seymour said. "This week in general is important. We have the two teams that were picked to finish 1-2. Thankfully we were able to get them at home first."
The Mavericks had to withstand an early final-set surge from the Bobcats (10-9, 3-2). UTA needed to rattle off seven of the final 11 points to capture the 15-11 Game 5 win.
With her team down 9-8 in the final set, Seymour stormed over to the other end of the court to get a quick message in as the Mavs and Texas State swapped sides midway through Game 5.
She had seen the Mavericks come back in the fifth set earlier in the year against North Texas. She wanted to see it happen again.
UTA responded with four kills and a pair of blocks, giving the Mavs the 25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 15-11 victory over the Bobcats.
Aguilera led three Mavericks (9-10, 3-2) in double-figure kills with 18. She added 13 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
UT Arlington kept the Bobcats off-balance defensively by employing quick-strike attacks on the second touch, often catching Texas State transitioning up to the net.
That helped open up the rest of UTA's hitters, including Aguilera.
Tara Frantz produced a season-high 16 kills, including three in the final set, and Sauls added 11. Sauls also notched her fifth double-double of the season by tallying 14 digs.
Raegan Daniel matched her career high with 49 assists, marking her fifth 40-assist match this season and fourth in six matches. She also produced 18 digs in earning her sixth double-double of the season and finished one kill shy of her second career triple-double.
"She played extremely well," Seymour said. "She set our hitters very well and mixed up the offense and knew who had the hot hand most of the night and then she found her spots to score.
Libero Alicia Shaffer tallied her fifth 20-dig performance in six matches, topping the mark for the seventh time this year. She finished with 26, a new season high.
Shaffer said the team added emphasis on the defensive aspect of the game after a poor passing match at Lamar last week.
Seymour said the Mavs made important adjustments during timeouts as well.
"We just tried to lead them in the right direction as to who we think is going to get the ball on the other side of the net," Seymour. "We also needed to remind them to do their job - don't do more than their job - but to do your job and make sure the ball doesn't hit the wood on our side."
Kendall Whitson chipped in with 10 digs and added a career-high four aces.
Amber Calhoun and Amari Deardorff paced the Bobcats with 14 kills each.
The Mavericks return to the court Saturday when they host Central Arkansas at 2 p.m.
