Aug. 25, 2017

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- In the debut of the Coach J.T. Wenger era, UTA volleyball cruised to a three-set victory over Southern (25-17, 25-11, 25-18) on Friday night at College Park Center.

UTA (1-0) posted a smooth win over Southern (0-1) in the first game of the Wenger era. Wenger took over the UTA program for the 2017 season after winning a national title at UCLA, and coaching with the Bruins, Colorado and Michigan State.

The Mavs were in control throughout the match, rolling to wins in the first two sets, including a 13-point win in the second. The third set saw Southern get within a pair at 19-17, before a Wenger timeout saw the Mavs power through the final six points for a 25-18 win. It marked UTA's seventh straight season-opening win.

"Definitely exciting to get that first win on the board and actually get that first match out of the way," Wenger said. "To have our athletes show up the way they did and perform. We saw some marked improvement in places where we have been spending our time and that is what we want out of our program, to make sure we are getting better at the things we are practicing at regularly. That was exciting."

LEADING THE MAVS
The Mavs were led in the match by a double-double from Qiana Canete, who charted a match-best 13 kills, while adding 11 digs and three assists.

"Q (Qiana Canete) did a nice job," Wenger said. "She struggled early but she came back, which as a coach, we love to see. She ended up hitting almost .300 which is great. She had some tough situations that she made some great plays on. There was a set that she made, that comes to mind. It was a weird broken play and she got her hands on it and put up a nice, high hittable ball and we were able to terminate."

UTA also got a 25-assist outing from setter Haley Higgins, making her first career start. Sophomore libero Madelyn St. Germain set a new career high with 15 digs. Zhanelle Geathers finished with four kills and eight digs, with Kylie Jedlicka adding five kills and eight digs. Madison McConnell charted a five kill game, with Tessa Harfield sporting two kills. Kailyn Gilbreath finished with four assists, with Smith and Ashlynn Ford each charting a service ace, Cameryn Zahradnik owning four kills and Libbie Vickers, Allie Deese and Madison Helt each seeing action.

QUOTABLES
"Haley (Higgins) did a nice job, Cameryn (Zahradnik) did a nice job, Kailyn (Gilbreath) came in and did a nice job," Wenger said about newcomers getting their debuts out of the way. "Tessa (Harfield) went the while way and did a nice job. A lot of people showed up and they did what they've been showing in practice, which is great."

"Cam (Cameryn Zahradnik) went out there and swung her butt off," Canete said. "She wasn't afraid to take swings, even when she make an error, she kept swinging. Madison Smith had a good ace. We were all really aggressive and confident going out to the floor. We played like we should have been playing."

NEXT
UTA will return to action with a doubleheader on Saturday, hosting the second round of the UTA Invitational Tournament at College Park Center. The Mavs will face McNeese at 12 p.m. CT and Houston at 7 p.m., with all four games of the day in the UTA Invite streamed live on UTAMavs.com with Josh Sours voicing the action.

GAME ONE
UTA opened the scoring in the 2017 season with a kill from Geathers off a nice dig from St. Germain. The teams then traded points to open the set 2-2 before Canete ripped her first two kills of the year, with UTA taking a 4-2 lead. After Southern took its third lead of the set, 11-10, UTA ripped off a 6-0 run to take a 17-11, with the Jaguars resetting with a timeout during the run. The Mavs used kills from McConnell and Higgins to take a 21-14 lead into a Southern timeout. Geathers smashed home a kill out of the timeout and McConnell gave the Mavs a 23-14 lead with her fourth kill. After a service error got the Mavs to set point, Higgins finished off the set win with her third kill. UTA took a 19-9 lead, its largest of the match, into a Southern timeout. After the timeout, Kailyn Gilbreath, Allie Deese and Madison Helt checked in off the bench for the Mavs, with UTA taking a 22-10 lead after Geathers finished her fourth kill.

GAME TWO
Harfield got the Mavs on the board in the second set with her first career kill, a smash from the far side of the net. The Mavs went on a 4-0 run to take a 5-1 lead, with Harfield and Jedlicka combining on a block. With a 6-4 lead, UTA went on a 7-1 run to take a 13-5 lead into a Southern timeout, getting a service ace from St. Germain. The Mavs took an 18-9 lead after Geathers finished home a kill.

GAME THREE
Both clubs traded points early in the third set, before UTA went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-2 lead, with Cameryn Zahradnik notching her first career kill for the three-point lead. Southern took its first lead in the set after an attack error, 8-7 but Zahradnik immediately evened up the set with her second kill. The Mavs went on a 3-0 lead to earn a 12-9 lead entering a Southern timeout. UTA stretched its lead to 17-11 off an Ashlynn Ford service ace. Southern rallied to force a UTA timeout and UTA finished of the match with the final three points for a 25-18 win.

NOTES
• The Mavs are 1-0 all-time vs. Southern, winning the first meeting since 2011 in El Paso, Texas.
• UTA has won seven straight season openers.
• UTA first-year Head Coach J.T. Wenger coached his first-career game.
• Sophomore setter Haley Higgins made her first-career start.
• Sophomore libero Madelyn St. Germain made her second-career start.
o St. Germain set a new career high in digs.
• Sophomore MB Tessa Harfield made her collegiate debut in her first-career start.
• Junior OH Allie Deese made her NCAA debut.
• Freshman setter Kailyn Gilbreath made her collegiate debut.
• Freshman DS Madison Smith made her collegiate debut.

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