ABILENE, Texas – For the second time in as many days, the UT Arlington volleyball team went to five sets against Abilene Christian. Despite rallying back to force a fifth set, the Mavericks fell 3-2 (21-25, 27-25, 23-25, 25-22, 9-15).

The Mavs move to 12-8 overall, while the Wildcats earned their first win of the season and improve to 1-1.
 
Brianna Ford finished with her ninth double-double of the season (13 kills, 10 digs), while leading the Mavericks in kills for a second straight match. Meredith Fisher (12 kills) and Brooke Townsend (12 kills) each reached the double-digit kill total. Mollie Blank finished with a career-high 41 assists.  Defensively, Alli Wells finished with 24 digs.

SET 1 | UTA 21, ACU 25 | ACU LEADS 1-0
A pair of 3-0 runs by the Wildcats gave ACU an early 9-4 lead.  A 5-0 run by the Mavs tied the set at nine, capped off with an ace from Alyssa Duran. The Wildcats would ride a lead gained by a 6-2 run the rest of the way to take set one. The Mavericks hit .333 with 15 kills in the first set, while ACU hit .364 with 16 kills and four service aces.

SET 2 | UTA 27, ACU 25 | MATCH TIED 1-1
Following a kill from Kortney Puckett to give the Mavs their ninth point of the set, the Wildcats went on a 3-0 run to take a 13-9 lead and force a UTA timeout. Trailing 20-15, the Mavericks battled back, tying the set at 24 with a kill from Brooke Townsend. Two errors from ACU put the Mavs up 26-25 before Simara Peyton finished the set with an ace.

SET 3 | UTA 22, ACU 25 | ACU LEADS 2-1
The Wildcats used a series of blocks to take control of the set early on by a score of 9-5. Trailing 18-14, the Mavericks utilized a 4-0 run to tie the set and force an ACU timeout. With the match still tied at 22, ACU won three of the final four points to take set three and a one set lead.

SET 4 | UTA 25, ACU 22 | MATCH TIED 2-2
The Mavericks came out firing in set four, scoring seven of the first eight points. The Mavericks extended their lead to the largest of the day by a score of 13-5 with a kill from Brianna Ford. Leading 23-15, the Wildcats rattled off five straight points to make it 23-20. The Mavericks ended the rally with two kills to win the set 25-22.
 
SET 5 | UTA 9, ACU 15 | ACU WINS 3-2
The momentum from the fourth set carried over for ACU with the Wildcats taking a 6-2 lead. A service error by the Wildcats sparked a 4-0 run for the Mavericks, tying the set at six.  With the set tied at eight, the Wildcats used a 7-1 run to end the set to win the match 3-2.

UP NEXT
The Mavericks will travel to Stephenville to take on Tarleton State next Friday (Feb. 5 – 6 p.m.) and Saturday (Feb. 6 – 1 p.m.).

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