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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The UT Arlington Mavericks dropped both ends of Saturday's finale of the Islanders Classic at the Dugan Wellness Center, falling for the second straight match to UNLV in the opener before taking a loss to the host A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders.

UTA (3-8) had to overcome the tough scheduling task of three matches in less than a 24-hour span, including a pair of weekend matches against a UNLV (9-0) squad off to the best start in program history.

Cassidy Wheeler and Zhanelle Geathers each were named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the event. Wheeler turned in three double-doubles on the weekend, averaging 5.83 assists and 3.33 digs per set. Meanwhile, Geathers continued her consistent play with averages of 2.42 kills and 0.67 blocks per set while hitting at a .211 clip in the three matches.

UTA will now return home to College Park Center to host the UT Arlington Invitational beginning Friday. The Mavs will play host to Samford, New Mexico, Houston Baptist and UTEP in the two-day event.

Match 1: UNLV 3, UT Arlington 1 (Box Score)
UT Arlington hit .283 in the first two sets and outblocked UNLV, but the Rebels caught fire in the final two sets to take its second straight win over the Mavs, 3-1 (25-22, 14-25, 25-18, 25-14) in the first match of the day.

The Mavs got 21 digs from Taylor Murata for the match, but allowed UNLV to hit at least .256 in three of the four sets, despite outblocking UNLV by a 9.0-3.0 count.

UTA got double-doubles from Qiana Canete (12 kills, 14 digs, 3 blocks) and Wheeler (24 assists, 11 digs), and despite dropping a narrow first set were able to square things up at 1-1 after rolling to an 11-point win in Set 2.

But the final two sets were all UNLV as the undefeated Rebels, who are off to the best start in program history, combined to hit .301 in those sets to just .105 for UTA.

PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
Geathers scored 10 kills on 25 swings and was one of two Mavs, along with Jessica Nwabuko, to pick up five blocks. Canete and Wheeler each finished with double-doubles, while four total Mavs finished with at least 11 digs.

Match 2: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3, UT Arlington 1 (Box Score)
Defending Southland Conference champion A&M-Corpus Christi staked itself to early leads in three of four sets to aid its cause in a 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15) win over the Mavs in the final match of the tournament.

UTA dug itself an early hole to start the match as A&M-Corpus Christi (4-4) raced out to a 7-0 lead to start things off. The Mavs clawed their way back behind five kills from Canete, drawing even as late as 23-23 before the Islanders took a 1-0 lead in the match with the sets final two points.

A fresh Islander team looked just that way in the second set, racing out to another big lead at 9-2 before rolling to a 25-15 win to go into the break with a 2-0 lead. It looked as though they would finish off the sweep after three straight points late in Set 3 gave them a 21-18 advantage. But the Mavs found a second wind and closed out the frame on a 7-1 run, getting four kills from Kaitlyn Granger in that stretch to extend the match. The Mavs finished the set hitting at a .250 clip, its best attacking set of the match.

Marisah Ingram delivered four kills in the fourth set, but the Islanders got off to another fast start, scoring the first six points of the set before the Mavs were able to get on the board. UTA responded to the quick opening by narrowing the gap to just two points at 12-10 before A&M-Corpus Christi took control with eight of the next 10 points. In all, the Islanders hit .353 for the set to just .091 for the Mavs.

PLAYERS OF THE MATCH
Geathers led UTA with 11 kills on 29 swings with two blocks, finishing as the only Mav in double-figure kills. Wheeler led the team with both 24 assists and 18 digs, while Canete had nine kills and 14 digs. Ingram finished swinging at a .333 clip with eight kills on just 15 tries with a team-best four blocks.

QUOTABLES
Coach Diane Seymour on tough schedule of three matches in less than 24 hours
"It was a tough schedule, but we knew it going in. We thought we had a great chance to get at least one win, but unfortunately it didn't happen and even to get one against a good UNLV team. One thing we can say, though, is that we are not getting swept. We are being very competitive and winning some sets big. It's right there to turn the corner, but we have to be more consistent and keep both our intensity our relentlessness up."

Seymour on play of younger players
"They are getting some good opportunities to learn on the job. The response has been pretty good most of the time. It's learning on the job, feet to the fire and they have to stand there and take it and improve."

Seymour on play of Cassidy Wheeler and Zhanelle Geathers
"Cassidy stepped up and played good defense, which is what we need as we continue to move forward. Zhanelle was more consistent on the right, and she is getting better and more comfortable there. She is still learning how to attack a different type of set than she has been used to, but you can see the steady improvement, especially with far less attack errors."

Seymour on returning back to the College Park Center for UT Arlington Invitational
"We seem to play well at College Park Center and we are so excited to be headed home. Also, to not have a midweek match is going to be big for us. Everyone is playing a lot of matches at this time of year, but it doesn't it doesn't allow many chances to practice at things we need to get better at. It gives us a chance to sleep in our own beds and then three good practices to get better for our upcoming opponents."