ARLINGTON, Texas – Head Coach J.T. Wenger and the UTA volleyball team (0-0) are set to open the 2019 season this weekend at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup (hosted by the Univ. of Houston). On Friday, the Mavs battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 10 a.m., before facing LSU at 4:30 p.m. UTA wraps up play at the Flo Hyman Collegiate Cup on Saturday (Aug. 31), when they take on tournament host Houston at 12:30 p.m.

UTA vs. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
When: Friday, Aug. 30 | 10:00 A.M.
Where: Houston, Texas | Fertitta Center
Live Stats | Tournament Central

UTA vs. LSU
When: Friday, Aug. 30 | 4:30 P.M.
Where: Houston, Texas | Fertitta Center
Live Stats | Tournament Central

UTA at HOUSTON
When: Saturday, Aug. 31 | 12:30 P.M.
Where: Houston, Texas | Fertitta Center
Live Stats | Watch Live | Tournament Central

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
- The Islanders finished the 2018 season with a 9-21 record.
- TAMCC had six players with 160+ kills last season and all of them return to the squad for 2019, led by sophomore Rachel Young, who led the Islanders last year with 246 kills.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | LSU
- The Tigers finished last season with a 12-17 overall record and finished tied seventh in the SEC with a 7-11 record.
- Head coach Fran Flory, the winningest coach in LSU volleyball history, enters her 22nd. She owns an all-time record of 478-376.
- LSU returns seven letterwinners from last year's squad and returns four starters plus the libero.
- The Tigers are picked to finish seventh in the league this year as voted on by the head coaches in the SEC.
- Taylor Bannister, a 2017 AVCA All-American and 2018 AVCA All-South Region selection, returns on the right side for the Tigers. Last season, she finished with a team leading 456 kills. Bannister earned Preseason All-SEC honors, released in early July. She has a total of 817 career kills and is 183 away from reaching 1,000.
- Raigen Cianciulli, returns as the libero for the Tigers. She recorded 542 digs and averaged 4.80 digs per set. She became the fastest player in program history to reach 1,000 digs last season.
- Seven newcomers join the 2019 squad, including six freshmen and one transfer. Allee Morris, Meredyth Howard, Anita Anwusi, Karli Rose, Samarah Hill and Jill Bohnet were ranked the No. 13 recruiting class in the nation by prepvolleyball.com, the highest ranked class in the SEC. Emmaline Walters joins us from the University of Illinois.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | HOUSTON
- After jumping out to a 13-2 record and posting one of its best starts in program history in 2018, Houston is seeking back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2010-11.
- Houston returns 12 players from last season, including senior outside hitter Megan Duncan (2.92 k/s), senior libero Katie Karbo (5.31 d/s) and junior setter Abby Irvine (6.30 a/s).
- The Cougars welcome a pair of transfers to their 2019 roster in sophomore middle blocker Isabel Theut (Arkansas State) and Torie Frederick (Clemson). Frederick led the Tigers with 350 digs, which ranked 10th in the ACC.

UTA NOTES
- UTA finished the 2018 season with 16 wins, the most in Head Coach JT Wenger's young coaching career.
- The Mavericks led the Sun Belt in digs per set (16.04) and ranked in the top-5 in four other categories (assists per set, winning percentage, opponents hitting percentage, team attacks per set).
- UTA graduated four seniors in Zhanelle Geathers, Madison Helt, Alex Janak and Libbie Vickers from a squad that went 16-12 overall, finished 9-7 in Sun Belt play and earned the No. 5 seed in the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Championships.
- The Mavs return 11 players from last year, including four seniors (Madison Hill, Madelyn St. Germain, Petra Manderson, Kylie Jedlicka).
- UTA returns seniors Madison Hill and Kylie Jedlicka, who garnered 2018 All-Sun Belt First Team and Second Team honors, respectively.
- The Mavs return the team leaders in kills (Madison Hill; 289), digs (Madelyn St. Germain; 457) and total blocks (Bre Walp; 86) from the 2018 squad.
- Madison Hill hit .395 on the season, to rank No. 2 in the SBC and 13th in the country.

NEW FACES
The Mavs will have eight newcomers (7 freshmen, 1 transfer) on the roster for the 2019 campaign.

UTA's 2019 class, which was given High Honorable Mention honors by PrepVolleyball.com, features Division II transfer sophomore Chase Davis (Azusa Pacific / Homeschool / Keller, Texas) and freshmen Danielle Dion (Plano East / Richardson, Texas), Meredith Fisher (Wichita Falls, Texas / Rider HS), Devon Martinka (Stanwood, Wash. / Stanwood HS), Jessica Stancliff (Carrollton, Texas / Hebron HS); Allison Wells (Waxahachie, Texas / Waxahachie HS), Megan Walsh (Grand Rapids, Minn. / Grand Rapids Senior HS); Gabriele White (Lewisville, Texas / Flower Mound HS).

SOLID SCHEDULE
- UTA will play one team that finished the year ranked in the AVCA Coaches' Poll: No. 16 Washington State. The Cougars were ranked No. 22 in the 2019 AVCA Division I Preseason Coaches Poll that was released last week.
- The Mavs will face three teams that finished the year ranked in the NCAA RPI Top-50: No. 14 Washington State, No. 22 Texas State and No. 42 SFA.
- The Mavericks will take on three teams that participated in the 2018 NCAA Tournament (Texas State, SFA, Washington State) and a pair of teams that participated in the 2018 National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) (Appalachian State, Arkansas State).
- Two of UTA's opponents advanced in the NCAA Tournament (Washington State – Sweet 16; Texas State – Round of 32).
- UTA will face teams from nine different conferences this year.
- The Mavs will play in one exhibition match before officially opening the 2019 season. UTA plays host to Dallas Baptist on Friday, Aug. 23.
- UTA opens the season by playing a three-match tournament at the University of Houston. The Mavericks will face the host Cougars during tournament play along with LSU and Texas A&M Corpus-Christi.
- The Mavs then return home to host the first of two tournaments. UTA hosts Incarnate Word, Southern and UNCG on Sept. 6-7 for the Maverick Classic. UTA also hosts the Maverick Invitational (Chicago State, SFA, Prairie View A&M) on Sept. 20-21 to close non-conference action.
- The Mavericks also compete at the Washington State Tournament in Pullman, Wash., on Sept. 13-14. UTA takes on the host Cougars and Liberty and Idaho State during the event.
- UTA opens SBC play at home on Sept. 27 vs. ULM, followed by a match against Louisiana at College Park Center on Sept. 28. The Mavericks wrap up conference action at Texas State on Nov. 15.
- UTA has posted a 60-42 record in SBC play since joining the league in 2013.
- The Mavericks have won 10+ SBC matches in four of their six season in the league.

SBC PRESEASON POLL
UTA volleyball landed one representative on the 2019 All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team it was announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon. Senior Madison Hill, a 2018 First Team All-Sun Belt selection, was named to the 13-person team, as voted on by the coaches.

Hill, a three-time Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week in 2018, started all 28 matches for the Mavs last season. The Rockwall, Texas native hit .395 with a team-high 289 kills, 91 digs and 77 total blocks. She tallied double digit kills 13 times, including a season-high 26 vs. Louisiana (Oct. 27) and also ranked 2nd in the Sun Belt and 13th nationally in hitting percentage (.395). In league play, she ranked 2nd in hitting percentage (.415) and 8th in kills per set (2.95).

The preseason poll has defending champion Texas State as the unanimous pick to win the West Division with all 12 first-place votes and 72 points. Coastal Carolina edged out Appalachian State as the East Division favorite with seven first-place votes and 67 points, just ahead of the Mountaineers' five first-place votes and 65 points. UTA earned 55 points to finish in second place behind TXST in the West Division.

SINGLE-MATCH TICKETS ON SALE
UTA Volleyball single-match tickets are now on sale for the 2019 season. Single-match tickets are general admission and are $6 for fans over the age of three, while children two and under get in free.

Fans can purchase their 2019 single-match tickets in person at the College Park Center Box Office or online by visiting UTATickets.com. For more information regarding single-match tickets, please contact the UTA Box Office at boxoffice@uta.edu or 817-272-9595.

Group tickets are $3 each for groups of 10 or larger. For more information regarding group tickets and group packages contact Assistant Director of Marketing & Outbound Sales Jeremy Malnes at jeremy.malnes@uta.edu or 817-272-9607.
Military, UTA faculty and staff and UTA students receive free admission to all home, regular season matches.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE
Season tickets for the upcoming 2019 UTA volleyball season are officially on sale with general admission seating available for $25. The $25 cost (less than $2 per game) is a 50% drop in price from last season.

Fans can purchase their 2019 single-match tickets in person at the College Park Center Box Office or online by visiting UTATickets.com. For more information regarding season tickets, please contact the UTA Box Office at boxoffice@uta.edu or 817-272-9595.

FOLLOW THE MAVS
For the latest news on UTA Volleyball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Mavs on social media. Follow the Mavericks on Twitter @UTAMavsVB, on Instagram @UTAMavsVB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/UTAMavsVB.