Sept. 24, 2010

By: Lauren Snook

ARLINGTON, Tex. - Bianca Sauls knew she would need to do a little bit of everything for UT Arlington to win big during her senior year.

So far, she has lived up to her part of that deal.

Sauls has established herself as a jack-of-all-trades of sort. That isn't to say, though, that she is the king-of-none.

During the UT Arlington Hilton Invitational, Sauls set career highs in assists, digs and aces en route to earning Tournament MVP honors.

Against North Texas, Sauls took her defensive game to another level, recording 27 digs and seven blocks.

UTA coach Diane Seymour said that Sauls' defensive performance is much-improved since she first started playing for the Mavericks.

"She was always a very quick athlete," Seymour said. "She just didn't have a lot of good, defensive technique as a younger player when she got here because she had been a multi-sport athlete."

Sauls agreed her years in the sports have improved her as a defender.

"I know how to read the hitters on the other side," Sauls said. "I guess it's really just from experience."

Sauls' position, right side hitter and back-up setter, allows her to compile virtually every stat, enabling her to fill out the box score.

Sauls said that she likes being able to help the team in any way that she can, but as most players, she would like to have more kills as a hitter.

"I think about it as executing the play, putting the ball away and scoring the point," Sauls said. "I think I could produce more for our team as far as execution goes. I can also step in, set the ball and dig, and that's just as important as scoring the point."

One of the biggest improvements in Sauls' all-around game has come from the service line.

Sauls said that, in the past, she was nervous about going back to serve because she would think about how crucial it was to the match.

"Coach would always say, `Serve this ball in,'" Sauls said. "I just felt like there was so much pressure."

This season, being more aggressive on the floor is Sauls mantra for this season. That's why she decided to bring back her jump-serve.

"As a team we've learned to just visualize ourselves making the play happen before we even do it," Sauls said. "I just visualize myself serving it over and in and hard too; that's what I focus on when I go back to serve now."

The Mavericks next play at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday. They return home on Oct. 6, against Texas State at 7 p.m.