Final Stats

JONESBORO, Arkansas - UT Arlington fell in four sets (25-19, 25-21, 28-30, 25-20) on Sunday afternoon to Arkansas State. The Mavericks attempted to put together a comeback after dropping the first two sets, then claiming the third set in exciting fashion, but they ultimately came up short dropping the fourth set and the match to the Red Wolves. While holding a 9-3 advantage at the net, the Mavs were outhit .266 to .236 against ASU.

"They played with a lot more heart than we did today," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "We have got to get out of that habit of going down 0-2."

The loss drops the Mavericks to 13-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play, while the Red Wolves improve to 10-5 this season and hold a 5-1 record in the Sun Belt.

Qiana Canete led UTA as she recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 24 digs and 13 kills. Taylor Gross also did her part to spark the Mavericks offensively with 12 kills, eight digs and a hitting percentage of .357.

"The first two sets we beat ourselves up as we didn't have a lot of energy going into the match," Gross said. "Emotionally we've had a little lull after losing to Little Rock and I think we're needing people to step up emotionally."

Amanda Welsh and Cassidy Wheeler directed the Mavericks offense as the two players recorded 23 and 21 assists, respectively.

The Mavericks opened up the match on the wrong end of a 4-0 run, but came back to cut the Red Wolves lead to one point at 11-10 after an Ashlynn Ford kill. After a run by Arkansas State put the Red Wolves up 17-13, UTA closed the gap to one point thanks to kills by Hannah Baptiste and Stacey Koch. Arkansas State then closed out the set with an 8-3 run to take the opening set.

Gross led the charge in the opening frame as she recorded four kills and a hitting percentage of .667. Canete and Ashley Bennett also did their part as the two players each recorded a pair of kills.

The second frame started out on a positive note for UT Arlington as they jumped out to a 12-8 lead which was capped off with a Canete kill from a Wheeler set. The Mavericks added onto their lead as a kill by Briana Sharratt helped the Mavericks take a 17-11 lead. Arkansas State then put together a 14-4 run to take the second set 25-21.

Canete, Sharratt and Baptiste paced the Mavericks offensively as the trio of players each notched three kills. Canete also did her part defensively as the freshman OH recorded six digs.

It looked as though the Mavericks would be swept for the first time this season as they trailed the Red Wolves 18-11 in the third frame, but UTA put together an impressive comeback with a 9-1 run that gave the Mavericks their first lead of the match at 21-20 off of a Sharratt kill. Arkansas State seemed to overcome UTA's comeback effort as they had three attempts to close out the match, but a kill by Sharratt gave the set to the Mavs at 30-28.

The Mavericks comeback effort was led by three UTA players in Gross, Canete and Sharratt who each recorded five kills. Wheeler and Welsh also helped guide the UTA offensive attack as the duo teamed up for 17 assists in the set. The Mavs also outhit the Red Wolves .265 to .182.

The fourth set belonged to Arkansas State as the Red Wolves led from start to finish. After a Canete ace brought UTA within one point of ASU at 9-8, the Red Wolves stormed back with a 9-4 run that gave them an 18-12 lead. The Mavs then did their best to replicate the third set comeback, but were unable to do so as Arkansas State ended the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.

The Mavericks were led defensively in the fourth set by Bennett, Sharratt and Koch as the three players each recorded two blocks. Gross, Canete and Baptiste shouldered the offensive load as they each put up three kills in the final set.

Both teams notched 19 hitting errors and UTA edged the Red Wolves in digs recording 80 compared to 79 for ASU.

"We're going to have to have a lot more fight to beat Texas State," Seymour added. "Hopefully we can draw a big crowd which should help a little bit, but we are going to have to play a lot better."

The Mavericks will return to action Wednesday when they take on Texas State at College Park Center with the match set to begin at 6:30 p.m.