Sept. 2, 2015
Final Stats | Photo Gallery
By Paul Watley | @WatP7
Arlington, Texas - UT Arlington claimed an impassioned sweep over North Texas at College Park Center on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks fell behind 10-3 in the opening frame, but were able to reverse their fortunes as they stormed back to take the set 25-21. The momentum carried over into the second set as UTA never trailed and put together a 10-2 run to take control of the set. Relying on the third largest College Park Center volleyball crowd in UTA history, the Mavs pulled out a nail biting third set 26-24.
Key to Victory
The Mavericks made their presence known at the net as they out-blocked the Mean Green 10.5-4. In addition to the blocking prowess, UTA also was effective digging the ball as they out-dug UNT 57-51.
Comeback Kids
After trailing by as many as seven points in the opening frame, UTA stormed back to take the set 25-21. A key reason for the Mavs comeback was the play of sophomore outside hitter Qiana Canete. The Copperas Cove native recorded five kills, while also registering a .357 hitting percentage.
Offensive Efficiency
UT Arlington relied on efficiency at the net in the victory, hitting .283 compared to .138 for North Texas. The Mavs registered 48 kills on 120 attempts.
Milestone Watch
Caitlyn Cooney continued to climb her way up the all-time charts in career digs. The Houston native registered 19 digs, which moves her past Dani Johnson's 1,446 career digs. Cooney now is now eight digs short of moving into eighth place in career digs by a Maverick player.
Player of the Match
Canete ended with a match-high 16 kills, while also picking up 11 digs on the way to her second double-double of the season. Canete recorded five kills in each of the first two sets before recording six in the final frame.
Unsung Hero
Junior Kaitlyn Granger entered Wednesday's match with 11 kills in the first three matches of the season. The Arlington native nearly matched that mark against Mean Green as she notched nine kills in the match to go along with a .529 hitting percentage.
Quotable
"It really feels great. We were disappointed after Saturday's match and I knew that tonight was going to be very similar to it. We needed to have a lot of energy to be able to come out and defeat a very pesky, very talented North Texas team, but we just came out very determined tonight." -Coach Diane Seymour on the victory
"They're going to anchor our offense, no doubt. That's not meaning to put any pressure on them, but the better they play the more in rhythm our team in going to feel. They're hopefully gaining a lot of confidence with Stacey having been in the background for a few year and Qiana is just a year older and more confident. The biggest thing I want these two to recognize is to continue to get that confidence and understand the impact they can have for us." - Seymour on the impact of Canete and Koch
"I didn't think there was going to be that many people. We've been telling ourselves all day that we have to bring the energy because we don't know who is going to be there, but having that crowd there helped our energy the whole time." - Stacey Koch on the crowd
Up Next
Next the Mavericks will travel to Denver as a part of the Pioneer Invitational, hosted by Denver University. UTA will open up the invitational against the Pioneers on Friday at 8 p.m. CT. The follow day the Mavs will wrap up their road trip with games against Villanova and Air Force.
