Oct. 17, 2014
Final Stats
By Paul Watley | UTAMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - Career nights for UT Arlington's Briana Sharratt and Amanda Welsh were just what the Mavericks needed in a thrilling five-set victory over Arkansas State in front of 783 fans at College Park Center on Friday night.
"The building was on fire tonight with a great crowd in there," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "It just serves our team so well and I think it really did make the difference in that fifth set."
The win improves the Mavericks record to 17-5 this season and 7-3 in the Sun Belt while also extending their home winning streak to nine matches. The Red Wolves fall to 11-7 overall and 6-3 in conference with the five-set loss.
Sharratt's impact in the match came at the net as she registered a career high 19 kills to go along with a hitting percentage of .581. The sophomore MB also picked up three blocks and two digs in the win.
Welsh's impact was more subtle, but still effective as she notched 31 assists partnered with a career-high 24 digs. The senior setter also recorded two service aces which makes her two aces shy of her 100th career ace, a mark that has only been hit by 14 Maverick players.
"My goal was just to get every ball up," Welsh said. "We worked on it especially after playing them at their place. Personally I didn't play well when we played at their court so one of my goals was to pick everything up that I possibly could."
Qiana Canete also notched her 14th double-double this season with 15 kills and 18 digs in the match.
Cassidy Wheeler's sixth double-double of the season came after she put up 22 assists and 11 digs in the match.
As a team the Mavericks hit .281 compared to .171 for the Red Wolves while also out digging Arkansas State 112-98.
UTA jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first set thanks to back to back kills by Canete. Arkansas State then responded with an 8-3 run after a Red Wolves service ace gave them a 11-9 edge. UTA slowly cut the lead down to two points after a Hannah Baptiste kill made the score 16-14 in favor of Arkansas State, but two points is as close as the Mavericks would get as they dropped the first set 25-20.
Sharratt paced the Mavs through the opening frame as she recorded three kills and a hitting percentage of .750. Canete and Taylor Gross also got in on the action as the duo also notched three kills apiece. Welsh did her part to direct the offense as she put up eight assists in the first set.
After holding a 6-5 lead to open up the second frame, the Mavericks went on a 9-4 run highlighted by three kills by Sharratt that put them up 15-9. UTA then extended its lead to nine points at 19-10 when it strung together a 4-1 run which included kills by Sharratt, Gross and Canete. The Red Wolves did their best to close the Mavericks lead as they got within seven points at 22-15, but the effort came too late as UTA tied up the match at one set apiece when a Stacey Koch kill ended the second set at 25-16.
Sharratt put on a show in the second set registering six kills along with a hitting percentage of .600. Helping Sharratt out was Canete and Koch who each chipped in three kills. As a team the Mavericks hit .318 compared to just .163 for the Red Wolves.
After trailing 15-7 in the third set, the Mavericks responded back with four straight points capped off with a kill by Gross from a Welsh set. Arkansas State then pushed its lead to seven points as they scored four straight points of their own. UTA would cut the lead down to five points at 19-14, but they failed to make a comeback as the Red Wolves took the set 25-16.
Gross led the Mavericks in the third set as she recorded two kills. Caitlyn Cooney did her part defensively as the junior libero recorded eight digs in the set. UTA hit -0.51 while allowing Arkansas State to hit .204.
UTA jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth set thanks to a Canete kill. The Mavs then pushed their lead to six points at 14-8 when Welsh notched an ace. Arkansas State then got within one of UTA thanks to five straight points that made the score 14-13. The Mavericks then responded with a 6-1 run of their own highlighted by a pair of Sharratt kills. UT Arlington then extended their lead to eight points at 24-16 after back to back Canete kills. The Red Wolves made a run to end the match as they scored four straight points to make the score 24-20, but Ashley Bennett ended any hopes of a comeback in the set as her kill gave the Mavs the set 25-20.
Canete led UTA in the fourth set with seven kills and three digs to go along with a hitting percentage of .667. Sharratt also continued to wreak havoc on the Red Wolves defense as she put up six kills and a hitting percentage of .857. As a team the Mavericks hit .317 while holding Arkansas State to .216.
Trailing 6-5 in the final set, the Mavericks scored three straight points to take an 8-6 lead off of a Bennett kill. UTA took a four point lead when a kill by Sharratt put the Mavs on top 12-8. Arkansas State cut the lead down to two points at 14-12, but a kill by Gross ended the set 15-12 and gave the five-set thriller to UT Arlington.
Taylor Gross and Sharratt led the way in the final frame as the duo recorded three kills apiece. Welsh and Cooney did their part defensively as the pair each recorded five digs.
"Our kids don't want to get outplayed on their home court and that's what I reminded them," Seymour added. "No matter what happens you're not going to win every match but the one thing you can control is your emotions and how hard you play on your home court."
The Mavericks will travel to Troy, Ala. Next as they take on Troy with the match set to begin at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19.
