Box Score SAN MARCOS, Texas – In what seemed like a home game, the UT Arlington volleyball team defeated #3 South Alabama in a five-set thriller (24-26, 25-21, 25-17, 28-30, 15-10) to advance to their fourth ever Sun Belt Tournament semifinal match.
Kylie Jedlicka had the tournament's best performance thus far, finishing with 24 kills and 21 digs.
Madison Hill (16 kills),
Brooke Townsend (11 kills) and
Petra Manderson (10 kills) each finished with double-digit kills.
The Mavericks hit .278 on the match and were paced by
Kylee Kapp (31 assists) and
Jessica Stancliff (30 assists).
After the Jaguars took a 3-1 lead to begin set one, the Mavericks went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead that was capped with a
Madison Hill kill. The Jaguars slowly chipped away at the Maverick until they tied the set at 15 apiece. Trailing 18-17, UTA went on a 6-1 run to make it 23-19. The Jags quickly responded with a run of their own to tie the set at 23 before continuing their run, winning the set 26-24.
The two teams battled through the middle of the second set, but back-to-back points gave the Jaguars an 11-9 advantage and forced a UTA timeout. The Mavs tied the set just a few points later with a Jedlicka kill. The gridlock continued until the Mavs rattled off four straight points to take a 19-16 lead. The Mavs kept the momentum on their side, winning the set 25-21.
The Mavs opened the third set with a 7-4 lead after going on a 6-1 run capped with a Jedlicka kill. The Mavs continued to widen the gap throughout the set, eventually taking a 20-14 lead and forcing the Jaguars to use a timeout. The timeout wasn't enough as UTA held on to win the set 25-17 and take a 2-1 match lead.
The Jaguars jumped out to an early 11-8 lead in the fourth set. South Alabama continued to increase their lead until the Mavs called a timeout with the score at 15-9. Trailing by six points, Jedlicka came away with three straight kills to bring the score to 18-15. UTA continued to cut into the Jaguar lead, forcing a timeout following a Jedlicka ace to make the score 21-19. The Mavs tied the set at 24 with another Jedlicka kill. Neither team would budge until the Jags won two straight to win the set 30-28 and force a decisive fifth set.
The Mavs came out in the fifth set on a mission, taking an 8-4 lead as the two teams switched sides midway through the set. UTA held off a late Jaguar rally, winning the set 15-10 and defeating the Jaguars 3-2.
UP NEXT
The Mavericks will take on #2 Coastal Carolina in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament tomorrow night at 5:00 pm.
