ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington volleyball team (0-7) saw a two-set lead slip to the Tennessee State Tigers, falling in five sets (25-17, 25-23, 27-29, 25-27, 9-15) in the night-cap of the Maverick Invitational.
 
Brooke Townsend led the Mavericks with a season-high 23 kills on 61 attempts.  Briana Brown (13 kills) and Monica LaFleur (10 kills) each reached double-digit kills on the night. UTA was paced by Kylee Kapp (26 assists) and Mollie Blank (27 assists).  Kapp and Blank also achieved double-double, finishing with 10 digs and 15 digs, respectively.
 
Alli Wells led the Mavericks defensively, ending with 20 digs on the night. The Mavericks finished with 8 blocks, including six from LaFleur.

SET 1 | UTA 25, TSU 17 | UTA LEADS 1-0
Trailing 5-2 early on, the Mavericks used an attacking error to jumpstart a 7-1 run and take a three-point lead. The Tigers kept the set close until the match was tied at 13. Back-to-back errors started another run that would push the Mavericks to a set one win with a 12-4 run. On the set, the Mavericks held the Tigers to a -.073 attack percentage.

SET 2 | UTA 25, TSU 23 | UTA LEADS 2-0
The Mavericks started off hot in the second set, going on an 8-1 run to begin.  With UTA still leading by seven at 16-9, Tennessee State used a series of runs to come back and tie the set at 22. The Mavericks used back-to-back points from Devon Martinka (kill and block assist) to get to match point before splitting the final two points to take a two-set lead.

SET 3 | UTA 27, TSU 29 | UTA LEADS 2-1
Tennessee State doubled the Mavericks points early on, taking a 12-6 lead over UTA.  The Mavericks used a kill from Mollie Blank to kickstart an 8-2 run to tie the set. The set stayed tied until a 4-0 run put the Mavericks at match point, leading 24-20. However, the Tigers won the next five points to take a late lead. The momentum pushed TSU to the 29-27 set three win.

SET 4 | UTA 25, TSU 27 | MATCH TIED 2-2
The match was at a standstill at the 14-14 mark, but a 4-0 run from the Mavericks gave UTA a late lead. Leading 19-15, a service error by UTA was the momentum changer as the Tigers embarked on a 7-1 run to take a late two-point lead. The Tiger lead was insurmountable as TSU held on to force a fifth set.
 
SET 5 | UTA 9, TSU 15 | TSU WINS 3-2
The Tigers wasted no time in the fifth set, jumping out to a 9-2 lead following an early 5-0 run. The Mavericks were unable to sustain a run to get back into the set, as TSU completed the comeback to win the fifth set and the match.

UP NEXT
The Mavericks will take on Prairie View at 1:30 p.m. and Northwestern State at 6:30 p.m. to round out the Maverick invitational.

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