Sept. 4, 2010
UTA-Mississippi State Box Score 
UTA-Mississippi State Photo Gallery Final Stats
ARLINGTON, Tex. - Tara Frantz earned a team-high 11 kills, but UT Arlington fell to Mississippi State, 3-1, Saturday night in the final match of the UT Arlington Maverick Classic.
The power of Mississippi State's attack neutralized UT Arlington's improved defense in the Bulldogs' 18-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 victory at Texas Hall.
"We felt like we were on the defensive for most of the match and we talked about that," UTA coach Diane Seymour said. "We lost a little bit of composure and hit the panic button because it's like they were bombarding us non-stop. Sometimes that's how it is - the opposing team will just be bombing you and you can stick your chest out and come back or you can lie down. I don't think that we lay down, but I don't know that we pushed back hard enough."
UTA finished the tournament 3-1. Mississippi State won all three of its matches.
Unlike UTA's offense all weekend, Mississippi State relied heavily on a few attackers. Caitlin Rance led the charge with a game-high 25 kills and Ashley Newsome chipped in with 2 of her own.
UT Arlington (3-4) hung with the Bulldogs (7-0) for most of the match. The Mavericks won the first set behind setter Raegan Daniel. The senior setter totaled four kills to go along with her eight assists in the first game. She finished the night with seven kills and 32 assists.
"I think we realized that we were a little bit quicker than Mississippi State," Seymour said. "They're definitely more powerful than we are, but we thought if we could put some balls on target we would have a chance. Raegan's very effective. She sees the court very well and knows the right time for herself and her teammates."
Mississippi State turned up its offensive pressure, forcing the Mavs into a defensive position after the first game.
Still, UTA kept itself in the match with its quality, balanced attack. Four players finished with nine or more kills - Frantz, Bianca Sauls, Eld-hah Kaswatuka and Emily Shearin.
Seymour said wants to see more production out of her outside hitters, but said the overall weekend was a positive.
"We just need to pick up the offensive numbers of our outside hitters a little bit and we'll be in good shape," Seymour said. "It's interesting to think that last weekend our outside hitters carried us and this week our middle blockers carried us. Now we're going to put it all together and next year we'll be great."
The Mavericks return to the court Friday at 2:30 p.m. when they play Northern Colorado in the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic.
