Final Stats

By Paul Watley | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington struggled to get things going offensively in its three-set loss to Louisiana on Friday night as the Mavericks hit just .130 in the match compared to .275 for the Ragin' Cajuns.

"To me it looked like they just wanted it a lot more than us," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "They just killed us in every category. We were out blocked ten to two which is unheard of against us and they out dug us by ten so I guess they just wanted it a lot more than us."

The loss drops the Mavericks to 22-8 this season with a 12-5 mark in the Sun Belt while Louisiana improves to 19-11 on the year with an 8-10 record in conference play.

Briana Sharratt and Stacey Koch shouldered the offensive load for the Mavericks as the duo combined to record 21 of UTA's 37 kills. Sharratt registered a team high 11 kills and a hitting percentage of .320 while Koch ended the night with ten kills.

"They definitely came out and fought harder than we did in general," Koch said. "We scouted them beforehand and we knew where they would play in defense so we worked on hitting the ball around them and I just focused on doing that."

Caitlyn Cooney led the Mavericks defensively as the junior libero notched 17 digs in the match.

The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead in the first set as a block by Sharratt and Taylor Gross gave UTA a 5-1 lead. Later in the set after Louisiana took a 10-9 lead, the Mavericks responded with a 4-1 run that was capped off with a Hannah Baptiste kill. The Ragin' Cajuns then stormed past the Mavs, taking a 19-14 lead which was finished with a UTA attack error. The Mavericks cut the lead to two points at 23-21, but it wasn't enough to take the set as the Cajuns scored two straight points to end the opening frame 25-21.

Sharratt and Koch led UTA through the opening set as the pair recorded four kills apiece. Welsh directed the offense as the senior setter notched seven assists in the set.

After trailing 14-7 in the second set, the Mavericks scored four straight which was highlighted by kills from Qiana Canete and Baptiste to make it 14-11. The Ragin' Cajuns extended their lead later in the set to 19-12 before UT Arlington put together a run of its own. The Mavs got as close as four-points at 23-19, but Louisiana closed out the set with back to back points to take the second set 25-19.

Canete led the Mavs in the second set as she registered five kills and a hitting percentage of .231. Cassidy Wheeler guided the offense as the sophomore setter notched seven assists in the set.

Louisiana jumped out to a lead again in the third set as it took a four point lead at 12-8. UT Arlington then scored three straight points to get within one point of the Cajuns at 12-11 before UL responded with a 8-2 run that gave them control of the set. Louisiana claimed the match 3-0 and the final set 25-16.

Sharratt recorded a team high four kills in the final set. Cooney and Canete chipped in defensively as the pair of players recorded six and five digs respectively.

"We've played some really bad volleyball for about two and a half weeks and are 2-3 in that stretch," Seymour added. "Something has got to flip in our players that they want to restart this season and try to finish on a strong note where they can have five or six more matches. Otherwise we are down to three matches and it's over."

UT Arlington will return to action this Sunday when they take on Georgia State in its home finale which will be broadcast for free on UTAMavs.com. The Mavericks will honor four seniors prior to the noon match.