By Ben Rikard | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - The UT Arlington sports year was filled with upsets, championships, buzzer-beaters and memorable performances that will go down in Maverick history.

Leading up to the 2016-17 seasons beginning with UTA volleyball in August, UTA Athletics is making sure we do not forget the accomplishments of the past season. Running from June through August, we will be counting down the top-15 moments and performances with "Best of 2015-16" features.

Moment No. 10: Cox named Johnny Bench Award semifinalist
The tenth top moment of the countdown turns us back to the baseball diamond with baseball's Brady Cox adding to his stellar junior season by being named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award, placing him among the top catchers in the nation in 2016.

The award is given annually to the nation's top Division I catcher with only 14 other backstops across the country being named to the semifinalist list. Cox was not on the original watch list, but vaulted into the conversation and was added to the award's watch list on April 13 and named a semifinalist on May 18.

He is the first UTA catcher to be named a Bench semifinalist and joins former Maverick Greg McCall as the only two in UTA history to garner consideration on the watch list. He was one of two SBC catcher on the list, joining Georgia State's Joey Roach, and was one of only five on the list to not play In a Power 5 league.

A native of Fort Worth, Cox put together a breakout season in 2016, landing on the all-Sun Belt Conference first team in addition to being named to the ABCA all-South Central Region first team. He was a rock behind the plate throughout the season for the Mavs, playing in all 58 games and catching all but seven innings after March 15.

The junior led the team and finished third in the SBC with a .365 average, and led all SBC catchers in hits (81) and on-base percentage (.427). He drove in a career-best 41 runs and smacked a dozen doubles.

Best of 2015-16 Schedule
No. 1 -- August 4
No. 2 -- August 1
No. 3 -- July 28
No. 4 -- July 25
No. 5 -- July 21
No. 6 -- July 18
No. 7 -- July 14
No. 8 -- July 11
No. 9 -- July 7
No. 10 -- Cox named Johnny Bench Award semifinalist
No. 11 -- Mendoza's record-breaking season
No. 12 -- Freshman duo sets standard at the net
No. 13 -- Baseball erases 10-run deficit at Georgia State
No. 14 -- Lady Mavs crush rivals on the road
No. 15 -- Guanlao shoots up leaderboard on SBC final day