Oct. 18, 2012

Final Stats

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By Michael Eldridge | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas- Freshman Stacy Koch's first double-digit offensive performance propelled UT Arlington to an upset win Thursday night at College Park Center over second place New Mexico State in four sets. The Mavericks have won two in a row.

"I think I did really good because coming in I've been getting better and better," Koch said. "I got to show it on the court."

Koch's 10 kills off of the bench gave the Mavericks (8-14, 4-6 WAC) a boost in its 3-1 victory over the Aggies (13-7, 7-3).

"We definitely won the intensity battle and that makes a coach happy," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "We all know that we're measured in wins and losses, but with this young group we have to put together marches with a high intensity level. We think its important for this team to know that they can knock off someone above them."

A late opening set substitution by UTA gave it the intensity to pull out an opening set win vs. New Mexico State. Koch came into the match with the Mavericks behind two, but two consecutive kills and an assisted block put the Mavs into the lead at 18-17. Koch them contributed to pull UTA ahead for the final time in the set on another two consecutive kills that awarded the Mavericks a 25-23 win in the set.

The reply came quick though from New Mexico State. The Aggies started the second set with a 7-1 run to open. Multiple UTA timeouts couldn't slow the momentum of NMSU, as Desiree Scott and Lauren Loerch both combined for three kills apiece and New Mexico State won the set 25-12 to even up the match.

UTA's momentum returned in the third. The Mavericks used streaks of two in the set to reclaim the lead in the match. Koch and fellow outside hitter Shelby Dickson powered UTA back into the match despite trailing by multiple points late in the match. Tied at 15, Dickson hit three consecutive kills beyond the reach of the Aggie defense to give the Mavs the boost it needed. Koch cleaned it up with two late kills and after defending off a set-point, the Aggies served into the net to fall 25-23 in the third set.

The wave of energy continued into the fourth set and despite getting behind.UTA continued to dig itself out of holes by streaking together consecutive points all the way to having a New Mexico State set point. The Mavericks scored two consecutive on kills from Dickson and another by Amy Devault to give UTA a match-point. Dickson stepped to the service line and floated a short ball over the net that was misplaced giving UTA the upset win 27-25.

Dickson finished the match with her eighth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 17 digs.

The Mavs return to action this Saturday when they host the University of Denver at College Park Center at 2 p.m.