ARLINGTON - The UT Arlington volleyball team has their sights set on capturing the program's first Sun Belt title as they head to Foley, Ala. for the program's eighth appearance in the 2020 Sun Belt Championships (Nov. 18-22).

The event, featuring 11 of the 12 SBC teams, will be held at the Foley Sports Complex in Foley, Alabama. The teams will be divided into four 2-3-team pools. All matches at the Sun Belt Volleyball Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

UTA (10-6, 10-6 SBC), the No. 3 seed from the Sun Belt West Division, will face Georgia Southern (4-9, 4-9 SBC; No. 5 East) and Troy (10-6, 10-6 SBC; No. 2 East) as pool play begins Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Mavs and the Eagles will face off on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m., before UTA takes on the Trojans on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

The Mavericks will be in Pool B with the winner advancing to face the winner of Pool C (Texas State, South Alabama, ULM) when bracket play begins with the semifinals on Saturday (Nov. 21). In the new format, the winner of each pool advances to Saturday's semifinal round, with the winners facing off Sunday (Nov. 22) for the conference crown.

#3W UTA (10-6, 10-6 SBC) vs. #5E GEORGIA SOUTHERN (4-9, 4-9 SBC)
2020 SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP | POOL PLAY
When: Thursday, Nov. 19 | 7:30 p.m.
Where: Foley Sports Tourism Complex | Foley, Ala.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Complete Bracket (PDF) | Championship Central

#3W UTA (10-6, 10-6 SBC) vs. #2E TROY (10-6, 10-6 SBC)
2020 SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP | POOL PLAY
When: Friday, Nov. 20 | 7:30 p.m.
Where: Foley Sports Tourism Complex | Foley, Ala.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Complete Bracket (PDF) | Championship Central

UTA IN THE SBC TOURNEY
The Mavs are 7-7 all-time and 3-3 under head coach J.T. Wenger at the Sun Belt Conference tournament, with their last win coming last season in five sets over 3-seed South Alabama (3-2; 24-26, 25-21, 25-17, 28-30, 15-10).

LAST TIME OUT | VOLLEYBALL UPSETS NO. 11 TEXAS STATE IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE (NOV. 14)
The UT Arlington volleyball team picked up a huge upset on Saturday (Nov. 14), defeating No. 11 Texas State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18), in the regular season finale at Strahan Arena.

With the win, the Mavs improved to 10-6 on the season and have now won 10+ matches in Sun Belt play in five of their eight seasons in the league, while the Bobcats suffered just their second defeat of the season and fell to 20-2 on the season (15-1 SBC).

The Mavericks held TXST to a season-low .096 hitting percentage on the afternoon, while the Mavs were able to hit .246, which marked the second-highest hitting percentage of any Bobcat opponent this season. UTA also won the battle of assists (40-33), aces (3-2), blocks (11-9), and digs (60-48).

UTA's huge win:

• marked the first time the Mavs have taken a set from TXST since Oct. 2, 2018
• gave the Mavericks their first win over Texas State since Oct. 8, 2014
• gave the Mavs their first sweep of Texas State since Oct. 8, 2014
• snapped TXST's 17-match winning streak
• gave Texas State their first home loss against a conference opponent since dropping a 3-0 contest to South Alabama on Sept. 22, 2017, ending a 31-match winning streak
• ended Texas State's bid for a share of the SBC Regular Season championship
• gave UTA their 10th SBC win of the season
• gave the Mavs their first win over a NATIONALLY RANKED opponent in the J.T. Wenger era

Briana Brown had a solid outing for the Mavs, finishing with 16 kills, hitting .344 in the match and adding five digs and two blocks. Kylee Kapp recorded 16 assists and Mollie Blank turned in 14 assists. Michaela Wright and Simara Peyton both registered a team-best five blocks, while Alli Wells had a match-high 23 digs.

UTA NOTES
- UTA has posted an 81-56 record in SBC play since joining the league in 2013.
- The Mavericks have won 10+ SBC matches in five of their eight seasons in the league.
- UTA ranks in the top-20 nationally in 11 categories:

• Assists Per Set (19th; 12.17)
• Digs Per Set (1st; 19.80)
• Opponents Hitting % (18th; .178)
• Kills Per Set (16th; 13.32)
• Team Assists (4th; 730)
• Team Attacks Per Set (2nd; 41.82)
• Team Digs (3rd; 1,188)
• Team Kills (4th; 799)
• Team Service Aces (9th; 74)
• Team Total Attacks (5th; 2,509)
• Team Total Blocks (9th; 127.5)

- This season, the Mavericks lead the league in digs per set (19.80/set), while also ranking No. 3 in the conference in assists (12.17/set) and kills (13.32) and No. 5 in hitting percentage (.191).
- Brooke Townsend leads the team in kills (186) and kills per set (3.10) kills per set, which ranks No. 8 in the Sun Belt. Townsends 186 kills ranks 12th nationally.
- UTA's setting duo of Kylee Kapp and Mollie Blank, register 5.40 and 5.11 assists per set, respectively.
- 2-sport athlete (WBB) blocker Michaela Wright leads the team with 0.85 blocks per set and her 51 total blocks ranks 17th in the country.
- 3-time SBC Defensive Player of the Week Alli Wells leads the nation with 6.61 digs per set. Wells ranks second in the country in total digs (408).
- Simara Peyton is sixth in the league in hitting percentage (.318).

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | #5E GEORGIA SOUTHERN
- Georgia Southern finished the regular-season conference slate with a 4-9 record and had three matches against Appalachian State canceled because of COVID-19 related issues.
- The Eagles have lost 5 of their last 7 matches.
- Setter Madison Brown was named the Sun Belt Setter of the Week on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Brown averaged 11.56 assists, two digs and 0.44 blocks a set in a 2-1 week for the Eagles. It's the second time she has earned the honor this season (Oct. 6). She has moved into seventh on the Georgia Southern career assist list with 2,303 and sits 223 shy of sixth place.
- Chamblee Russell was named the Sun Belt Freshman of the Week Nov. 3 after averaging four kills and three digs a set while hitting .295 in two matches against Georgia State. It was the second time the freshman earned the honor this season.
- Landon Jones is 306 digs away from 1,000 for her career, and junior Maddie Bryant crossed the 500 career kill mark last week at Coastal Carolina and now has 508. Bryant is 60 digs away from 500 for her career.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | #2E TROY
- Troy returned 12 players from last season's squad. Nearly all of the Trojans' 2019 production is back on the roster, including 97% of its points, 99% of assists, 92% of aces and 96% of digs.
- The Trojans enter the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Division, which ties for the highest finish since Troy joined the league in 2005 (also finished second in 2012).
- Troy is 4-8 all-time and 2-3 under head coach Josh Lauer at the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
- Troy finished the regular season with 10 Sun Belt wins which ties for the most conference wins in a season in program history (2012, 2019).
- The Trojans went 8-0 at home this season, but just 2-6 on the road.
- Under Lauer, the Trojans are 43-16 (.728) when winning the first set. Conversely, Troy is 12-41 (.226) when losing the first set in the Lauer era.
- Troy's 101 service aces are the second-most in the nation this season and the Trojans' average of 1.63 aces/set ranks eighth nationally and second in the league.

KEEP UP WITH THE 2019 SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP
All 13 matches of the 2020 Sun Belt Volleyball Championship are set for live coverage on ESPN+. Follow the championship action via Twitter (@SunBelt) or live stats and vide (ESPN+) available on the SBC Volleyball Championship Central page on SunBeltSports.org.

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.