Oct. 13, 2016

Final Stats

Photo Gallery

By Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington took the opening set, but it was all Texas State from there as the Bobcats took a 3-1 decision on Thursday night at College Park Center.

Playing in front of 1,396 fans, UTA celebrated its annual Dig Pink match against its in-state rival in front of the second-largest crowd in UTA volleyball history. The Mavericks (10-12, 4-3 SBC) fell for the third consecutive time against their rival. Texas State (13-9, 6-1) improved to 8-2 against UTA in the last 10 meetings.

The Mavericks drew momentum from the crowd in a back-and-forth opening set. With neither team being able to take more than a two-point lead early, Texas State forced a timeout after putting down three in a row to take a 18-15 lead. The Mavs responded strongly and battled to a 19-18 lead with kills by Cassidy Wheeler and Kaitlyn Granger. UTA pushed forward when it mattered most as Qiana Canete brought the Mavs to set point and Texas State would knock an attack into the net to give UTA the opener.

Texas State responded with its answer quickly. The Bobcats opened the second on a 7-1 run and found themselves up 11-3 after a UTA timeout didn't produce the result the coaching staff hoped for. The UTA attack was unable to answer Texas State's strong offense as the Mavs hit -.059 to TXST's .312 in the frame.

All momentum continued to be on the visitor's side again in the third. The Mavs helped their opponent along with three early errors and were behind 4-1 to get going. UTA pulled back within six late in the set, but a Texas State timeout rebounded the squad and helped send it to a 25-18 win.

UTA struggled at the net in the finale and couldn't get around the block. The Bobcats recorded five blocks in the fourth and held the Maverick offense to just .047 hitting on the way to a deciding 25-20 win.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Diane Seymour on the team's performance:
"Texas State is a great team and we didn't come prepared to battle through the entire match. We fought really hard in the first set, and probably fought for maybe a quarter of the second set. When you're playing one of the top teams in the conference you have to come prepared to battle through every single point. We had a couple of kids just not show up tonight."

Cassidy Wheeler on how to bounce back after the loss:
"I think I did decent, but all in all, it's not how we individually do, it's how we do as a team. You have to just learn from it and move on. Don't dwell on it. When the conference tournament comes, they're going to think of this game, and so are we, and we will show them that this isn't who we were."

Seymour on the emergence of Kylie Jedlicka:
"We did turn to Kylie and that's been coming. We've been waiting for that moment to turn the corner and put Kylie in. You're going to see more of her."

PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
UTA featured two with double-doubles. Qiana Canete had a match-high 15 kills to go with 13 digs. Cassidy Wheeler produced 27 assists to go with 11 digs. ... Wheeler led UTA with a team-best .400 attack percentage with three kills on five attacks.

KEY STATS
UTA ended its five-match homestand with a 2-3 record. ... Texas State out blocked the Mavs 12.0 to 8.0. UTA produced five of its blocks in the opening set. ... Texas State featured a .229 attack percentage, while UTA was able to get up to .099. ... The Bobcats featured four reaching double-digits in kills.

UP NEXT
The Mavericks close the regular season with seven of their final nine away from home, beginning with a trip to face Georgia Southern on Oct. 21 and Georgia State on Oct. 22.