LAFAYETTE, La. – In a slug fest between Sun Belt West Division foes, UTA used a late push in the fifth set to pull off a huge 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 27-29, 25-20, 15-11) comeback win over Louisiana at Earl K. Long Gym on Friday night.

With the win, the Mavs took over second place in the SBC West Division and improved to 14-10 overall and 6-6 in conference play, while the Ragin' Cajuns fell to 9-15 on the season and 5-6 in league play.

Madison Hill led the Mavericks with a match-high 23 kills. She also hit .455 and recorded 5 digs and 5 blocks. Brooke Townsend added 16 kills, 9 digs and 3 blocks, while Bre Walp chipped in with 7 kills and tied her career-high with 9 blocks. Madelyn St. Germain, who recorded her 1,000th career dig in the win, finished with a match-high 37 digs. Kylee Kapp tallied 26 assists and Jessica Stancliff finished with 25 assists and 13 digs.

Defense was huge for UTA as they won the block battle with the Ragin' Cajuns 14.0-8.0 and out-dug Louisiana 100-91. Both teams hit under .200 on the night (UTA - .189; Louisiana - .149).
 
The Mavericks jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth frame, but quickly fell behind 9-7. UTA responded with an 8-2 run, highlighted by 4 kills from Hill, to take the set 15-11 and pick up the 3-2 match win.
 
After splitting the first two sets, the Ragin' Cajuns erased an 8 point lead to win the third set. The home squad had a chance to take the match in four sets, but a 5-0 run from UTA squashed those chances, gave the fourth set to the visitors (25-20) and forced a winner-take-all fifth set.

 The Mavericks are back in action on Sunday, November 3, when they travel to Monroe, La. to battle ULM. First serve is set for noon.