MONROE, La. – Head Coach J.T. Wenger and the UTA volleyball team (5-1) will make their second road trip of the season when they travel to ULM to face the Warhawks this weekend at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. On Friday, the Mavs and ULM will battle twice (11:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m.), before facing off in the series finale on Saturday afternoon (1:00 p.m.).

MATCH 1 | UTA (5-1, 5-1 SBC) at ULM (1-12, 0-8 SBC)
When: Friday, Oct. 23 | 11:00 A.M.
Where: Monroe, La. | Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Live Stats

MATCH 2 | UTA (5-1, 5-1 SBC) at ULM (1-12, 0-8 SBC)
When: Friday, Oct. 23 | 6:00 P.M.
Where: Monroe, La. | Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Live Stats

MATCH 3 | UTA (5-1, 5-1 SBC) at ULM (1-12, 0-8 SBC)
When: Saturday, Oct. 24 | 1:00 P.M.
Where: Monroe, La. | Fant-Ewing Coliseum
Live Stats

MATCH INFO
There will be NO ESPN+ broadcast this weekend at ULM. ULM's TV truck took some water damage during Hurricane Laura and the Warhawks are not quite ready to roll with ESPN+ productions yet, so unfortunately live stats will be the only way for fans to keep up with the matches this weekend.

For those Maverick fans traveling to ULM, the Warhawks are allowed to have 25% capacity at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Fans are asked to wear a mask when entering the arena and while in aisles and concourses.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | ULM
- The Warhawks have dropped 12 straight matches coming into the weekend series with the Mavs.
- ULM is 0-3 inside of Fant-Ewing Coliseum in 2020, suffering a pair of losses to the Ragin' Cajuns on Oct. 2 and 3 and a 3-0 loss to Central Arkansas on Friday.
- The Warhawks finished 3-8 in home matches in 2019, with all three wins coming in non-conference matches. ULM defeated McNeese State, Alcorn State and Jackson State inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum last year.
- Senior Haley Coulter, a transfer from Division II Angelo State, continues to lead the Warhawks in several statistical categories. The Bradenton, Florida, native leads the Warhawks with 94 kills (2.24 per set), 113.5 points (2.70 per set) and 13 service aces. She is second on the team in digs with 168 (4.00 per set).

UTA NOTES
- The Mavericks have won the last nine meetings in the series with ULM.
- UTA leads the Sun Belt in assists per set (13.16) and kills per set (14.32), while ranking second in service aces per set (1.72).
- UTA has posted a 73-51 record in SBC play since joining the league in 2013.
- The Mavericks have won 10+ SBC matches in four of their seven seasons in the league.
- UTA finished the 2019 season with 20 wins for the first time since finishing with 25 wins in 2015.
- The Mavs also finished 8-8 in Sun Belt play and earned the No. 7 seed in the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championships.
- UTA picked up upsets over No. 6 App State (3-1) and No. 3 South Alabama (3-2), before falling to No. 2 Coastal Carolina (3-1) in the semifinals of the 2019 SBC Tournament.
- After falling in the SBC semifinals, UTA earned a postseason berth to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC), advancing to the quarterfinals before falling to eventual tournament runner-up South Dakota.
- In SBC matches last season, the Mavericks finished ranked second in the Sun Belt in digs per set (16.18) and ranked in the top-5 in five other categories (hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists, kills and blocks).
- UTA's key losses from the 2019 season are 2019 SBC First Team All-Conference selection Madison Hill (graduation), 2019 SBC Defensive Player of the Year Madelyn St. Germain (transfer – Alabama), Bre Walp (transfer – North Florida), Petra Manderson (graduation) and Kylie Jedlicka (graduation).
- The Mavs return 10 players from last year.

SBC ANNOUNCES NEW VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
For Sun Belt Volleyball programs, there will be a new path to a title in 2020. The conference announced a new championship format Tuesday that includes all 12 teams competing with pool play leading into a four-team knockout round bracket in a new five-day format that will take place in Foley, Ala.

Teams will be divided into four pools of three teams each and each squad will play two matches over three days starting Wednesday, Nov. 18. Pool winners will then advance to a single elimination knockout round bracket starting on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. with the semifinals followed by the tournament championship match on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m.

All matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ and will be held at the Foley Sports Complex.

The pools will be comprised of a mixture of East and West Division teams after the league played a divisional-only schedule in 2020.

Pool A consists of the No. 1 East Division team along with the No. 4 West Division team and the No. 6 East Division team. That pool's winner will face the Pool D winner in the semifinals of the knockout round, a pool that consists of the No. 2 West Division, No. 3 East Division and No. 5 West Division teams.

Pool B includes the No. 2 East Division, No. 3 West Division and No. 5 East Division teams while Pool C is comprised of the No. 1 West Division, No. 4 East Division and No. 6 West Division teams. The two pool winners will meet in the second semifinal match.

UTA ATHLETICS LAUNCHES UTA BEATS CANCER CAMPAIGN
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, UT Arlington Athletics has announced that the department's UTA Beats Cancer initiative is back to raise funds and awareness for the cause. The campaign will kick off on October 30 for UTA volleyball's home match against Texas State.

The UTA Beats Cancer initiative is a year-round effort which begins in the fall with volleyball and concludes in the spring with the baseball and softball teams. All UTA athletic teams to join the UTA Beats Cancer campaign and each team will have their own fundraising efforts and their own cancer awareness initiative.

UTA Athletics will be fundraising throughout the season and during the designated home events, with proceeds benefiting local cancer patient and outreach platforms in Arlington through the Moncrief Cancer Institute. The fundraising goal for the 2020-21 academic year is $10,000, and fans can join the cause by easily donating online (https://www.moncrief.com/uta).

WEEKLY AWARDS
Thanks to a 2-1 series win over Arkansas State that pushed the UT Arlington volleyball team to a 5-1, the Mavericks secured a pair SBC weekly honors this Tuesday. Brianna Ford was named Freshman of the Week, while sophomore Alli Wells earned her second consecutive Defensive Player of the Week honor.

The duo helped lead UTA to a sweep of their Friday (Oct. 17) doubleheader, which marked the first 5-0 start to Sun Belt Conference play in program history. The 5-0 start is also marked the sixth time the Mavs have opened the season with five straight wins and the first time since 2004, when the Mavericks opened the season 6-0.

Ford registered a double-double in each match last weekend against the Red Wolves, including a career-high 19 kills and 10 digs in Saturday's loss to A-State. Wells has continued her solid defensive play for the Mavs. The sophomore recorded 25+ digs in all three of UTA's matches, highlighted by a career-high 33-dig performance in Match No. 1 on Friday (Oct. 16). She has recorded 25+ digs in five of UTA's six matches this season.

POSTPONED AND RESCHEDULED
UTA's season-opening matches vs. Arkansas State (Sept. 25-26) and at Texas State (Oct. 2-3) were postponed and rescheduled due to quarantine protocols and positive and positive COVID-19 tests by Maverick team members.

New Dates
UTA vs. Arkansas State – Oct. 16-17
UTA at Texas State – Nov. 13-14

2020 SCHEDULE
UTA is scheduled to play 16 league matches in a divisional format separated into two- and three-match series over Fridays and Saturdays. The Mavericks are currently set to face four divisional opponents (Arkansas State, Little Rock, ULM and Louisiana) in three-match weekend series, while taking on in-state rival Texas State four times – twice in Arlington and twice in San Marcos.

Oct. 9-10: Little Rock – Little Rock, Ark.
Oct. 16-17: Arkansas State – College Park Center
Oct. 23-24: ULM – Monroe, La.
Oct. 30-31: Texas State – College Park Center
Nov. 6-7: Louisiana – College Park Center
Nov. 13-14: Texas State – San Marcos, Texas

NEW NUMBER
Sophomore Jessica Stancliff will have a new number this season. The Carrollton native gave up the No. 6 and has made the switch to No. 9.

NEW FACES
The Mavs will have seven newcomers (1 transfer, 6 freshmen) on the roster for the 2020 campaign.

Hannah Boyd, a transfer from Northeastern who enrolled at UTA for the 2020 spring semester, will have three years of eligibility with the Mavericks. She joins the squad after sitting out the entire 2019 season. As a freshman (2018) at Northeastern, the Fort Worth native played in 27 matches and 96 sets for the Huskies. She hit .173, tallied 320 kills and averaged 3.31 kills per set, to lead the team and rank sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). She also recorded 51 digs and 26 total blocks as a freshman.

UTA's freshmen include Kortney Puckett (Bentonville, Ark./Bentonville West HS), Brianna Ford (Amarillo, Texas/Randall HS), Briana Brown (Whitehouse, Texas/Whitehouse HS), Simara Peyton (North Richland Hills, Texas/Richland HS), Alyssa Duran (El Paso, Texas/Franklin HS), Mollie Blank Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield HS).

ESPN+
UTA recognizes the importance of a quality broadcast experience for fans and supporters of the program with no spectators allowed at the CPC this volleyball season. Because of that – for the first time in department history – all home matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+. That is the same platform all home men's and women's basketball games have appeared on the last couple of years; for additional information or to subscribe to ESPN+, visit espnplus.com.

COLLEGE PARK CENTER GAMEDAY INFO
In an attempt to create as much of a 'bubble-like' atmosphere to protect student-athletes, coaches and staff from UT Arlington and opposing teams – NO FANS, other than two (2) direct family members of opposing team student-athletes and current UTA volleyball student-athletes, will be permitted at home volleyball matches inside the College Park Center this year.

Masks are required at ALL TIMES while in the arena.

SBC PRESEASON POLL
UTA volleyball landed one representative on the 2020 All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team it was announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon. Junior Brooke Townsend, a 2019 Second Team All-Sun Belt selection, was named to the 12-person team, as voted on by the coaches.

Last season, Townsend appeared in 34 matches and hit .247 with a team-best 413 kills, 166 digs and 63 total blocks. She ranked in the top-110 in the nation in total kills and points (455). The Bastrop, Texas native ranked seventh in the Sun Belt with kills per set (3.20), while also ranking fifth in the SBC in both total kills and points (455). She tallied 5+ kills in all 34 matches and racked up double digit kills on 24 occasions. Townsend picked up a career-high 26 kills at Houston (Aug. 31) and totaled 5+ digs on 16 occasions, including a career-best 15 vs. Georgia Southern (Oct. 11). She also registered 20 multi-block performances, highlighted by a career-high five blocks vs. Troy (Oct. 19).

The preseason poll has defending champion Texas State as the favorite to win the West Division with all 10 first-place votes and 69 points. Coastal Carolina picked up nine first-place votes and 69 points to finish as the East Division favorite, ahead of Troy's three first-place votes and 60 points. UTA earned 53 points to finish in second place behind TXST in the West Division.

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.