UT Arlington at Louisiana
Earl K. Long Gym | Lafayette, La.
Nov. 6 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Live Stream ($)

UT Arlington at ULM
Fant-Ewing Coliseum | Monroe, La.
Nov. 7 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Live Stats | Live Stream ($)

By Ben Rikard | @BenRikard

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington Mavericks will hit the road for their final road swing of the season this weekend when they travel across the Sabine River for a pair of matches at Louisiana and ULM on Friday and Saturday.

Both matches are set for 6:30 p.m. and wrap up the season series against both the Ragin' Cajuns and Warhawks, starting Friday in Lafayette. The Mavs have already registered a 1-0 win over the Cajuns in Arlington on Sept. 18 and will be looking to run its all-time record to 14-1 against Louisiana with the only loss in the series coming last season at Earl K. Long Gym.

UTA will also be looking to even the score with the Warhawks on Saturday in Monroe after ULM stunned the Mavs with a 3-1 win last weekend. Still, the Mavs will enter the match with a commanding 42-3 advantage in the all-time series.

Last outing for the Mavericks
Despite a quick start, UTA could not withstand a stubborn and well-rested ULM squad as the Warhawks rallied from an early deficit to claim a 3-1 win at the College Park Center on Saturday, Oct. 31.

The Mavericks hit .371 in the first set with Stacey Koch connecting on five of her team-best 13 kills in the opening stanza; however, ULM rallied to hit .269 in the final three sets to take the match.

The loss completed a weekend split of a pair of matches after UTA came back from a 2-1 deficit to knock off Troy in five sets on Friday.

Freshmen duo impresses in first season
Entering the 2015 season with no returning starters at middle blocker, UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour turned to a pair of untested freshmen in Marisah Ingram and Zhanelle Geathers.

Ingram and Geathers have made the most of their opportunity as the duo has teamed up to become a dominant force at the net. Through 25 matches this season, the pair leads the team in blocks, combining for a total of 197 blocks - third most in UTA history by a freshmen duo, and best since 2008.

"It's a little bit similar," Seymour said, comparing the 2008 duo to the 2015 version. "Christy Driscoll had redshirted and then became a first year player that year and Emily Shearin was a true freshman, just like Marisah. There are some similarities. Now the style of athlete that they are is totally different, but some of the similarities are that we are asking a lot out of them, that every day they come out and do the best that they can."

Read More Wheeler tops 2,000 assists
Setter Cassidy Wheeler became just the ninth Maverick in program history to surpass 2,000 career assists with a 35-assist effort in Saturday's match vs ULM. She currently ranks ninth all-time at UTA with 2,004 assists and will enter her senior season in 2016 eyeing Raegan Daniel's 2,947 assists to move into the eighth all-time spot.

About the Ragin' Cajuns
The Ragin' Cajuns enter Friday's match with just a 5-21 overall record adn 1-12 in Sun Belt Conference play. Louisiana has dropped each of its last eight matches since a 3-2 win over ULM on Oct. 7 in Monroe.

As a team the Cajuns are hitting just .133 for the season and are led by junior middle blocker Chanelle Gardner's 2.28 kills per set. Sara Mossakowski is the only other Cajun averaging better than 2.00 kills per set, while setter Jessica Bartczyszyn paces the offense with 8.40 assists per set.

Defensively the Cajuns are anchored by Sydney Davis' 3.58 digs per set while Gardner leads the team with 0.78 blocks per set.

About the Warhawks
After splitting a pair of matches last weekend at UTA and Texas State, ULM comes into the weekend with a 13-15 overall record and 3-10 Sun Belt mark. The Warhawks are getting their second consecutive look at both the Mavs and Bobcats, this time on their home floor where they are 1-6 this season.

Offensively they are hitting just .169 for the year and are led by Hope Pawli's 2.95 kills per set. She is one of three Warhawks averaging better than 2.00 kills per set while setter Bayleigh Hoffman quarterbacks the offense with 8.77 assists per frame.

Kaitlyn Shearer leads the team in both attack percentage (.250) and blocks per set (0.84) while Tara Jenkins' 2.92 digs per set is a team best.

Quotable
"Saturday was disappointing, but I think our overall play just isn't what it needs to be at this time of year. Friday night we probably could have won in three or four, and then obviously Saturday night was disappointing." - Head coach Diane Seymour on last weekend's matches vs Troy and ULM

"I know ULM had the capability to come out and do what they did, but I was surprised to see us come out that flat. We played very well in the first set and then just totally lost it. I don't always understand how a team can come out and put it to someone in the first set and then play so flat and uninspired." - Seymour on Saturday's loss to ULM

"As a staff we have discussed some things we can do as coaches to try and get the most out of the girls. We've discussed keeping practices short and intense, a lot like match play, so that maybe we can keep those competitive juices flowing. At this time of year, though, I'm not sure how much more we can do. The players just have to understand the significance of this time of year and send the seniors out on a high note." - Seymour on team moving forward into this weekend

"Zhanelle has been playing well. She had a great match on Friday and didn't respond well on Saturday, but she's young. She has to figure out how to play her best match on Friday and then come out and try to match that on Saturday. She may not match the numbers, but the effort needs to match and I think she learned that this weekend." - Seymour on freshman middle blocker Zhanelle Geathers

"Just a lot of hard work has helped me get to the point I am at. Lots of practice with Cassidy (Wheeler) setting me and then going up against Marisah (Ingram) has really helped me out." - Geathers on her recent individual play

"We just have to realize that we have a end goal and it's not just a matter of winning each individual match, but that winning is helping us achieve our ultimate goal at the end of the road." - Sophomore outside hitter Qiana Canete on heading into the final three matches of the regular season

"It was definitely unexpected to lose the match on Saturday, but that is in the past. All we can do now is try to pick up the intensity, go on the road and sweep the two matches we have in front of us." - Canete on this weekend's matches at Louisiana and ULM

"We do have a tendency to feel too comfortable and that is something that we have to learn not to do. Fortunately we have another chance in front of us and a win on Friday at UL would go a long way, I think, to providing us more motivation to go get a win on Saturday at ULM." - Canete on team trying to find consistency