Final Stats

By Paul Watley | @PRWatley

TULSA, Okla. - UT Arlington wrapped up its nonconference play this season with a four-set victory over Oral Roberts at the Cooper Aerobics Center on Wednesday night.

The Mavericks jumped out to an early lead, taking the first two sets 25-19 and 25-23. After the Golden Eagles extended the match by winning the third set 25-22, UTA closed out the set with a 7-2 run that was capped off with a kill by freshman middle blocker Marisah Ingram to seal the set 25-17 and the match 3-1.

The Mavericks were dominant at the net in the match, out-blocking the Golden Eagles 10.5 to five. UTA also was extremely efficient in the match, hitting .291 compared to .196 for ORU.

Player of the Match
Qiana Canete provided a spark for the Mavericks offensively, matching her career-high of 19 kills. The Copperas Cove native committed just four attack errors on her way to a hitting percentage of .319. In addition to her offensive prowess, Canete also made her mark defensively with 13 digs en route to her fifth double-double of the season.

Records
UTA improved its record to 9-3 on the season, while ORU fell to 5-5 this year. The 9-3 mark to end nonconference play marks the sixth season with a winning nonconference record since Seymour took over the program in 2004.

Stat Leaders
Stacey Koch led the Mavericks' blocking efforts in the match with a career-high seven blocks. In addition to her blocking efforts, Koch also chipped in 16 kills to go along with her .361 hitting percentage.

The digging efforts were spearheaded by Caitlyn Cooney who notched 16 digs. Cooney was also helped out by Jordan Holub and Mikail Russell who came away with 10 and nine digs respectively.

Cassidy Wheeler directed the UTA offense with 43 assists. The Kingwood native also chipped in with seven digs, four kills, three service aces and a pair of blocks.

Quotable
"We did a good job of fighting against a really good Oral Roberts team that has a couple of great wins under their belt in Marquette and Miami. I knew that it would be a dog fight with this being their first home match and having a good crowd, but our kids showed some composure even when they fell behind and were able to show some competitive fire." -UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour on the match

"I really want to see us send a statement of who we are in that first match on Friday night. I really think a lot of people are looking past us since we lost four significant starters from last year that did so many good things for us. People may be looking past us a little bit so I want us to get out to a quick start against Louisiana to make a statement and carry that over into Saturday's match against Georgia State who is very much improved this year." -Seymour looking towards the first Sun Belt matches of the season

"We started off pretty slow. We won in the first two sets and I think we kind of slowed down in the third set and let them get back in it. We had to push in the fourth set and I think we did a good job of doing that. -Canete on the match

"I'm excited. I hope we start off strong and don't come out scared because it's the first conference game. But hopefully we'll have a crowd there and we'll play good." -Canete looking towards the first Sun Belt matches of the season

Up Next
UTA will return home for the weekend as it opens up Sun Belt play with matches against Louisiana and Georgia State. The Mavericks will host the Ragin' Cajuns on Friday at 6:30 p.m., while the match against the Panthers will take place on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets for the weekend matches are available at UTATickets.com.