Aug. 25, 2015
By Cassie Logan | @c4ssielogan
UTA Game Notes | Maverick Match Day Info
ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington will open the 2015 campaign Friday without some of its most impactful starters and leaders after graduation. However, the fairly young team has already taken the initiative to fill those missing positions and redefine its identity.
"Our team personality is going to be different this year because of those three main starters that left," senior libero Caitlyn Cooney said. "There's positions to be filled and places for people to step in. If you ever watched Ashley Bennett play, she's very passionate and she wasn't a person with big stat numbers, but she came out and she was passionate when she played all the time. We have Zhanelle Geathers that can fill that role and Marisah Ingram is still new to all of us. Marisah is going to have to step in and play as well. Right now, we've been playing just each other, so when we get out and play different competition, we'll see how competitive and energized we are and how much we all love this sport."
UTA will host the Maverick Classic Friday at the College Park Center with a match against Campbell at 7 p.m. The two-day tournament continues Saturday when the Mavs take on Grambling St. at 1:30 p.m. and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m.
UTA and Campbell will meet for the first time, while Grambling St. and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi were last seen in Arlington in 2013.
The Mavs are 2-0 all time against the Tigers and have a more substantial 14-3 lead in the series versus the Islanders.
The squad said goodbye to Ashley Bennett, Taylor Story, Amanda Welsh and Taylor Story after faltering to UALR in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals, but not before they carried the Mavericks to a 25-9 mark, their best winning percentage since 2006 with the longest winning streak since 2002.
The Mavericks' leading blocker and 2014 Sun Belt All-Conference first-team selection, Briana Sharratt, will also miss a spot on the roster due to an injury that sidelined her in the spring.
Cooney said just like any other incoming freshman class, it's taken time for the new players to adjust to the intensity of collegiate volleyball and its required work ethic. The Houston native netted the eighth-most digs in the nation and lifted UTA to the NCAA's third-best digs per set performance last year.
"They have to do just a bit more and it takes three to four days to get them situated with that and then they begin to make big improvements," UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. "Obviously, get some experience for some people even though we have five seniors on our roster, we are going to be relatively young in a lot of positions. A lot of the preseason is set up to have some tough situations."
Sophomore outside hitter Qiana Canete, who was in the class' shoes just last year, is also stepping up as a team leader after a breakout season that included 376 kills and a conference freshman-high 18 double-doubles.
A Preseason All-Sun Belt Team selection, Canete said she's carrying over an improved mental game in which she has learned to sit aside pressure and expectation on the court.
Season and single-game tickets are available for purchase at UTATickets.com or by calling 817-272-9595.
Game Notes
- The 2014 season saw the program's best winning percentage since 2004 and the most wins since 2006
- The Mavericks said goodbye to four senior players from last year's squad in Bennett, Taylor Gross, Taylor Story and Amanda Welsh
- UT Arlington averaged a record 559 fans per match in 2014, including the largest volleyball crowd in College Park Center history when UTA took down Texas State in straight sets on October 8 in front of 1,251 fans
- UTA finished the 2014 campaign with the NCAA's third best mark in digs per set at 18.16, while also recording the nation's 24th most blocks and 27th best mark in opponent hitting percentage.
- Cooney sits 29 digs shy of breaking into the UTA top ten charts in career digs and 649 short of becoming the Mavericks all-time dig leader
- Canete was a three-time Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Week during the 2014 season
- Seymour enters the season five wins short of moving into third in career wins for a Maverick coach and 24 shy of moving into second, while also being 25 games away from her 200th career victory
- Seymour is one of six volleyball coaches since UTA's first season in 1973 and will become the longest tenured volleyball coach this season
