ABILENE, Texas – The UT Arlington volleyball team battled in a five-set thriller to end the ACU Invitational on Saturday, falling to Incarnate Word 14-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 10-15.
 
Brooke Townsend led the Mavericks for a third straight match in kills, finishing with 13. Devon Martinka joined Townsend with double-digit kills with 10.  Mollie Blank and Jessica Stancliff paced the match with 22 assists and 19 assists, respectively.
 
Defensively, Alli well led the Mavericks with 19 digs.  Blank and Stancliff each came away with their second double-doubles of the season, finishing with 12 digs and 11 digs respectively. UTA finished with 13 blocks, led by Kortney Puckett's nine stuffs at the net.
 
Townsend was named to the All-Tournament Team, finishing the weekend with 38 kills (2.92 k/s) and 41.5 points (3.19 pts/s).

SET 1 | UTA 14, UIW 25 | UIW LEADS 1-0
The Mavs fell behind early to start the match, allowing the Cardinals to go on a 6-0 run and force an early UTA timeout. UTA fell behind seven points before Brooke Townsend and Monica LaFleur combined for four straight points and cut the deficit to four points. The Cardinals quickly stopped any Maverick momentum, going on a 6-0 run to take a 10-point lead over UTA, 18-8. The Cardinals closed out the set, alternating points with the Mavs.

SET 2 | UTA 25, UIW 19 | MATCH TIED 1-1
After falling behind 6-4 to start the match, UTA went on a 7-0 run to take the lead and force a Cardinals timeout, capped off with a kill from Kaylen Beaty. The Mavericks held a five-point lead at 16-11, but a 6-1 run by the Cardinals tied the set at 17. UTA answered with a 4-0 scoring run that would be difference as the Mavs were able to close out the set to tie the match at one.

SET 3 | UTA 22, UIW 25 | UIW LEADS 2-1
Once again trailing 6-4, the Mavericks went on a 4-0 run off three UIW attacking errors to take a two-point lead of their own. The teams traded points until the Cardinals were able to go on a 3-0 run to take an 18-16 advantage and force a UTA timeout.  Despite the Mavericks tying the set at 20, the Cardinals would take five of the final seven points to win the third set.

SET 4 | UTA 25, UIW 21 | MATCH TIED 2-2
Neither team could gain an advantage in the early going, but with the set tied at 11, the Mavericks used a kill from Monica LaFleur to kickstart a 3-0 run. Momentum continued for the Mavericks as their lead grew to five points, 19-14. UIW was unable to close the gap as the Mavericks won the fourth set to force a decisive fifth.

SET 5 | UTA 10, UIW 15 | UIW WINS 3-2
The Cardinals used back-to-back points early in the set to help them gain an 8-7 lead at the media timeout.  Coming out of the media timeout, the Cardinals won the next two points to force a Maverick timeout. UIW was unphased, as they continued their run with two more kills coming out of the break to take a 12-7 lead. The lead was enough for UIW to hold onto, winning the set and the match.

UP NEXT
The Mavericks will host Tulsa, Sam Houston, and North Texas next weekend (Sep. 3-4) in the UTA Classic held at the College Park Center.

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