Final Stats

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington held an 11-0 all-time record versus Louisiana entering Sunday afternoon's match at College Park Center and after a 3-1 victory (25-15, 25-16, 18-25, 25-12) the Mavericks remained perfect against the Ragin' Cajuns. UTA used a strong defensive performance as they held ULL to just .032 hitting while the Mavs hit .231.

"We wanted to come in and get out to a quick start and everybody on our team rose to the occasion today," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "This next week will be nice to have a couple of days off and let our bodies rest."

The win puts UT Arlington at 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the Sun Belt while Louisiana drops its third straight match and falls to 12-3 and 2-1 in the conference.

The Mavericks were led by Briana Sharratt and Hannah Baptiste who each recorded 11 kills in the victory. Both players were extremely efficient hitting as they recorded hitting percentages of .526 and .435 respectively. Sharratt was also a part of a trio of Maverick players to record three blocks as the team ended the match with seven total blocks.

"We had really good passing today and our back row did really well." Sharratt said. "Whenever we start off that way we are able to feed all of our hitters including our middles."

Caitlyn Cooney was strong defensively for the Mavericks as she notched 22 digs in the match and sits just seven digs short of 1,000 career digs. Amanda Welsh did her part to direct the UTA offense as she put up a team-high 23 assists.

"Our goal is to stay fast and keep the other team on their heels," Welsh said. "I just try to remind the team to keep working hard to better ourselves."

The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead in the opening set as Qiana Canete recorded three kills to put UTA up 8-2 and force a Louisiana timeout. After the Ragin' Cajuns cut the Mavs lead down to five points at 11-6, UTA responded by stringing together an 8-4 run that forced a Louisiana timeout and was capped off when Welsh dumped the ball over on her set. With a 20-13 lead, the Mavericks closed out the opening frame with a 5-2 run which included a Cooney kill to finish the set.

Canete and Baptiste paced UTA through the opening set as each of the players recorded four kills. Cooney and Canete helped the Mavs defensively as they recorded eight and six digs respectively in the set. The Mavericks hit .179 in the set while holding ULL to .000 hitting.

Trailing 9-6 in the second set, UTA came back and took the lead thanks to a 7-2 run that put the Mavs up 13-11 and forced the Ragin' Cajuns to call a timeout. After a pair of Louisiana points tied the match at 13, UTA took the match with a 12-3 run that ended the set at 25-16. A Canete kill from a Welsh set gave the Mavericks the set and put them up 2-0 in the match.

Baptiste led the Mavs through the set once again as she recorded three kills and a hitting percentage of 1.000. Directing the offense was Welsh who dished out seven assists for UTA. Ashley Bennett also did her part at the net as she recorded two blocks. The Mavs outhit the Ragin' Cajuns .250 to -.097 in the second frame.

Louisiana looked to avoid the sweep in the third set as they jumped out to a 13-7 lead which forced a UTA timeout. The Mavericks cut the lead down to five points at 23-18, but were unable to complete the comeback as the Ragin' Cajuns scored back to back points to take the set 25-18.

Sharratt led the charge for UTA in the third set as she recorded four kills and a hitting percentage of .667. Cooney made her mark defensively as she recorded ten digs for UTA. The Mavericks were outhit .275 to .244 in the set with the biggest difference coming at the net where UTA was outblocked three to zero.

The Mavs came out blazing in the fourth set as they went up 7-1 off of a Taylor Story ace that forced a Louisiana timeout. The Ragin' Cajuns then cut the Mavs lead down to three points at 9-6, but an 8-2 run capped off with a Baptiste kill gave control of the match to UTA at 17-8. Despite a late ULL effort as they cut the lead down to seven points at 17-10, the Mavericks finished the final set and the match strong with a 8-2 run that was highlighted by a pair of Sharratt kills.

Sharratt led the Mavs in the final set recording four kills and a hitting percentage of .800. Welsh did her part to distribute the ball as she notched five assists in the set.

The Mavericks will return to action next Sunday when they play host to Louisiana-Monroe with the match set to start at noon.