ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington swept its way to the 2018 Maverick Classic title after closing out the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of Binghamton on Saturday at College Park Center. The Mavs topped Loyola Maryland earlier in the day by a 3-1 final, and swept Air Force on Friday night.
The Mavericks, moving to 3-3 overall, found their offensive stride in the finale as it cruised to the straight-set win. A big defensive effort by
Bre Walp helped lead the Mavs to a strong night on the blocking side. Walp assisted in seven blocks on her own, joined by
Michaela Wright who assisted in four. Walp was a part of a team-high 13 blocks throughout the weekend.
Madison Hill led UTA with 34 kills with an efficient .517 attack percentage. Named to the Maverick Classic All-Tournament team, Hill averaged 3.40 kills per set, while finishing with just three errors.
Kylie Jedlicka joined
Alex Janak as well to the All-Tournament squad. Jedlicka finished with 24 kills in the three matches, knocking down eight against the Bearcats in the night cap. Janak earned a double-double against Loyola Maryland earlier in the day and finished with a team-high 48 assists to go with 27 digs.
UTA will enjoy a week in which it plays just one match. The Mavs travel down I-35 to take on Incarnate Word of the Southland Conference on Friday night. UTA returns back to College Park Center on Sept. 14 and 15 to host the Maverick Invitational.
MAVERICK CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Madison Hill (UTA)
- Kylie Jedlicka (UTA)
- Alex Janak (UTA)
- Liz Pennington (Air Force)
- Denise Ssozi (Air Force)
- Katie Forsythe (Loyola Maryland)
- Ann Ernst (Loyola Maryland)
- Samantha Gioiosa (Binghamton)
POST GAME QUOTES
UTA head coach
J.T. Wenger
"We had a gutty performance in some tough situations where we were able to take care of business when we needed to. With every competition we get to learn a little bit about ourselves and now its time to get back in the gym and work on it. We were able to establish a few new threats and able to score points in several different ways, that was a good start and we'll continue to expand upon that in the future months"
On the play of freshmen over the weekend...
"In just a few weeks with them they are doing a nice job. For me, once we get into match time I am not really thinking about what year they are but how they perform in practice and how they are right for the program. It is really competitive. We have a lot of spots where people are neck and neck and that is driving some of the success right now.
On the play of Madison Hill...
"We are two weekends in, and this weekend she was excellent. She hit over .500 ont he weekend and that is an incredible efficiently with a good kill percentage. I think the swing to end the match today, she really took it to another level and reached another gear. That was impressive."
ON THE COURT LEADERS
Without a double-digit kill leader, it was the defense that prevent the Bearcats to hold any momentum.
Madelyn St. Germain had just one receiving error as the libero with a team-high 23 digs. Jedlicka joined in the double-digit club with 10.
In the third set, UTA's block swatted away three attempts in a row, while a .344 attack percentage seemed impossible to stop with Hill and Walp providing a strong attack through the middle. Walp knocked down five kills, but her exclamation mark in the second set put the stamp on the team's intentions. Janak, sending down five aces in the first match of the day, put down another three in the night cap, accounting for nine total in the tournament.
QUICK NOTES
UTA improved to 14-3 in its home-opening tournament at College Park Center dating back to the arena's opening in 2013... UTA and Binghamton met for the second time and first since 2004, UTA leads the series 2-0, sweeping both meetings... Tournament final standings: UTA (3-0), Air Force (2-1), Loyola Maryland (1-2), Binghampton (0-3)
