Sept. 27, 2012
Final Stats
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By Michael Eldridge | UTAMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - Shelby Dickson's 20 kills and 24 digs propelled the Mavericks (6-10, 2-2) to a 3-1 win over the San Jose State Spartans in its first ever WAC match at College Park Center on Thursday night.
"It was a well-played match on both sides of the net," UTA volleyball coach Diane Seymour said. "They started out a bit sloppy and then we played a little sloppy. But our energy was really high tonight and we played pretty crisply for the most part."
UTA had four players with double-digit kills in the match. Following up Dickson was Taylor Gross with 11 kills, Charmaine Whitmore who finished with 12, and Ashley Bennett with 10.
"We were able to pass the ball and spread it around hitter wise and that pulled the block to where we were open on the outside," Dickson said. "It gave us some confidence that we hope to bring to our next game."
Points came in triplets for the Mavericks early in the first set. UTA scored three consecutive points three separate times early in the first set to open up an early 9-5 lead. The Spartans would battle back to within one at 20-19 late in the set after a run of scoring four straight.
Charmaine Whitmore would break the run coming out of a UTA timeout to propel the Mavericks to another three point run. Shelby Dickson would close out the set to take the first set 25-21. Taylor Gross led all players in the first with six kills while Dickson added eight digs.
The teams traded points through a 4-4 tie before Whitmore blocked the San Jose State attack giving UTA its first lead of the second set. Dickson would add her 10th kill of the match on a four point run by the Mavericks to open up a 14-11 lead after the teams went back and forth trading points. Calling a timeout, the Spartans brought the set to a 15-15 tie.
The teams exchanged three point runs to tie the match at 18 before Whitmore would block back-to-back lob attempts from San Jose State. The Spartans would fight into a lead scoring three consecutive and forcing UTA into a timeout at 23-22. Flying out of the timeout, UTA's Dickson had back-to-back kills giving the Mavs set point that was capped by a frontline block from Gross to put UTA up 2-0 overall.
The Mavericks started on top in the third set after scoring six of the sets first eight points. The Spartans would not go down easily though. The Spartans used a run in which it scored six of seven to tie the game at 13. Ashley Bennett broke run between the teams late in the third set in which both teams exchanged points to tie at 17.
The Mavs took a 20-18 lead before two straight errors brought the match to a tie at 20. The Spartans scored consecutive points for the first time since early in the set to earn its first set point of the match. San Jose State had a service error on its first attempt to win the set but UTA couldn't hold off another falling in the third 25-22.
Whitmore and Dickson stepped up for the Mavericks early in the fourth set. Dickson led the Mavericks on defense from the backline while Whitmore used her power from the outside hitting position and her height in the middle to overcome the middle blockers from San Jose State.
Up 6-5, UTA built its largest lead of the match to extend an 11-6 lead. Up 15-9 in the set, the Mavericks Valerie Stetzer recorded her first kill of the match on a push that caught the Spartans off guard and helped send UTA in its first WAC match at home. UTA would control the remainder of the set to win 25-20.
The Mavericks have a quick turnaround as they face Utah State on Saturday at 2 p.m. at College Park Center.
Season and single game ticket can be purchased online at UTATickets.com. Season tickets are just $49 and include all 15 home games. For more information, questions or to purchase tickets over the phone contact 817-272-6319.
UTA students don't forget to log onto your MyMav account to purchase your All-Sports Combo pack for $50 this gives you entry into all home UTA Athletic events. For more information call 817-272-6319.
