By Paul Watley | @PRWatley

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington's Zhanelle Geathers was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Week on Monday afternoon.

"There are a lot of good freshmen in the league," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "I'm excited for her that she was able to earn this. This past weekend she was really an offensive force for us and also did a great job of blocking."

Geathers provided a spark for the Mavericks over the past week, averaging 2.75 kills and 1.12 blocks per set in wins over Georgia State and Georgia Southern. Geathers best outing came in a three-set victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday night as she came away with nine kills (3.0 kill/set) and five blocks (1.7/set), while also hitting .600 with no hitting errors. Geathers continued to make her mark in UTA history as her 88 total blocks this season is the 8th most by a UTA freshmen, while her 80 block assists are tied for fifth by a first-year Maverick player.

"We relay heavily on Qiana Canete and Stacey Koch, but when Zhanelle provides that offensive spark for us, it creates opportunities for everyone," Seymour added. "She is also doing a good job of getting better as a blocker, because she wants to get better. As a team we tend to play better when Zhanelle is playing well."

Geathers' honor marks the second time this season that the middle blocker has been named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Week.

The Mavericks will return to action next Friday and Saturday at College Park Center in matches against Troy and ULM. The Friday match against Troy is set for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday's outing against ULM is also slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.