ABILENE, Texas – In their first match of the spring slate, the UT Arlington volleyball team rallied to beat the Abilene Christian Wildcats in five sets Friday – 19-25, 25-20, 18-25, 25-16, 15-6.

With the win, the Mavericks improve to 12-7, while the Wildcats drop to 0-1 on the season.

Brianna Ford finished with her eighth double-double of the season (10 kills, 16 digs) leading the Mavericks in kills and finished second in digs.  Meredith Fisher added eight kills, while Simara Peyton and Kortney Pucket each tallied seven.  Pucket also finished with a match-high nine blocks. Mollie Blank paced the match with 25 assists. Alli Wells tallied a match-high 19 digs.

SET 1 | UTA 19, ACU 25 | ACU LEADS 1-0
The Mavs started hot, taking a 3-1 lead, but fell behind by an 8-2 scoring run by the Wildcats. A pair of 3-0 runs by ACU prevented UTA from overcoming the deficit as the Wildcats took set one 25-19.  The Mavs hit .000 on the set, while the Wildcats hit .162.

SET 2 | UTA 25, ACU 20 | MATCH TIED 1-1
The Mavs took advantage of Wildcat errors early on, taking a 10-8 lead thanks to four ACU errors. UTA used a 7-2 run to increase their lead to six points (17-11), capped with a kill by Brianna Ford. The Mavericks increased their attack percentage to .313 in set two as they tied the match 1-1 with a 25-20 set two win.

SET 3 | UTA 18, ACU 25 | ACU LEADS 2-1
The Wildcats controlled the third set early on. After taking a 6-2 lead to begin the set, the Wildcats continue to widen their lead until their it grew to six points (12-6). The Mavs used a 5-1 run to cut the lead to two points and forced a Wildcat timeout. UTA would cut the deficit to one with a Mollie Blank ace, but could not take control of the set, eventually falling 25-18.

SET 4 | UTA 25, ACU 16 | MATCH TIED 2-2
Meredith Fisher finished a 6-2 run to start the fourth set with a kill as the Mavs fought to keep the match alive. The two squads traded points until the score sat at 15-13.  The Mavericks extended their lead to six (20-14) using a 4-1 run. The lead continued to grow over the final seven points as the Mavs won convincingly 25-16 to force a decisive fifth set.
 
SET 5 | UTA 15, ACU 6 | UTA WINS 3-2
The Mavs came out hot to start the final set. Leading 3-2, UTA threw down four straight kills to take a commanding 7-2 lead. Another 4-1 run ending with a block assist from Brianna Ford and Simara Peyton put the Mavs just five points away from winning the set and the match. The Mavs ended the match with a 5-1 run to complete the rally and defeat the Wildcats 3-2.
 
UTA held the Wildcats to -0.08 attack percentage in the final set.  The Mavericks found their groove in the final two sets, committing just three attacking errors against their 18 kills.

UP NEXT
The Mavericks will play their second match against the Wildcats tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. at the Teague Center.

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