ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington volleyball team (2-7) picked up their first two wins of the season on Saturday, sweeping Prairie View (25-17, 25-22, 25-10) and winning a five-set thriller over Northwestern State (25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13) to end the Maverick Invitational.
 
Brooke Townsend and Briana Brown were named to the Maverick Invitational All-Tournament Team.  Townsend led the Mavericks with 46 kills in the three matches, while also coming away with 24 digs and 53.5 total points.  Brown finished second on the Mavs with 39 kills (3.00 k/s) and 41.0 total points.

MATCH ONE RECAP | UTA 3, PVAMU 0
The Mavericks held Prairie View to .039 attack percentage in the match, compared to their own .261 attack percentage. Briana Brown had a season-high 10 kills in the match and was the lone player for either team to reach double-digit kills. Jessica Stancliff (12) and Kylee Kapp (10) paced the match, leading UTA in assists.
 
Alli Wells led the Mavericks with 17 digs, while Kainah Williams finished with three blocks. The Mavericks came away with five blocks on the day.  UTA also finished with eight service aces, including three from Stancliff and two from Kapp.
 
SET 1 | UTA 25, PVAMU 17 | UTA LEADS 1-0
After trading the first few points to begin the set, the Mavericks went on a 5-2 run to take a 10-5 lead, capped with an ace from Alli Wells. Prairie View fought back, getting within one point at 13-14, but the Mavericks answered with an 8-2 run to take a commanding seven-point lead. The cushion was all UTA needed to take get a set one win.

SET 2 | UTA 25, PVAMU 22 | UTA LEADS 2-0
The Mavericks jumped out to a 9-5 lead, but a resilient Panther team continued to fight back, once again bringing their deficit to just one point.  The Mavericks answered with a 5-1 run to take a 16-10 lead. With the Mavericks still leading by six at 22-16, the Panthers rattled off a 5-1 run to cut the Mav lead to just two points.  Briana Brown ended the momentum with a kill for Prairie View before UTA ended the set the next point.

SET 3 | UTA 25, PVAMU 10 | UTA WINS 3-0
With their first win in sight the Mavericks stormed out to a 16 -4 lead using runs of three, four and six straight points to get the lead. UTA continued to roll, using another 4-0 run, which included two kills from Briana Brown, to finish the set and give UTA the sweep.
 
MATCH TWO RECAP | UTA 3, NSU 2
Brooke Townsend led all players with 23 kills in the match, while also picking up 15 digs for her first double-double of the season.  Briana Brown (16)  and Monica LaFleur (11) each ended with double-digit kills. Jessica Stancliff paced the match with a season-high 52 assists and picked up a double-double with 11 digs.
 
Alli Wells led the Mavs defensively with 29 digs, while Monica LaFleur (4), Jessica Stancliff (3), Kainah Williams (3), Devon Martinka (3) and Brooke Townsend (2) all had multi-block performances.
 
SET 1 | UTA 25, NSU 21 | UTA LEADS 1-0
Briana Brown scored three of the first five points for the Mavericks as the two teams battled back and forth.  With UTA leading 14-13, a kill from Alyssa Duran would start a 3-0 run to give the Mavs a slight cushion. NSU would fight back, coming within one point of the Mavs at 21-20, but a 4-1 run to end the set gave the Mavs the set and momentum heading into the second.

SET 2 | UTA 23, NSU 25 | MATCH TIED 1-1
UTA jumped out to a 6-0 lead with Kaylen Beaty serving, capped with a kill from Monica LaFleur. The Mavericks kept their large lead until the 14-6 mark.  The Demons went on a 17-5 run to sit two points away from a set win.  The Mavericks scored four straight to tie the set, but NSU ended with back-to-back kills to tie the match.

SET 3 | UTA 25, NSU 18 | UTA LEADS 2-1
UTA responded in the third set by dominating the first half of the set, taking a 17-7 lead after back-to-back aces from Brook Townsend. The Demons made up a few points, but the Mavericks had made an insurmountable lead as they took the third set with ease 25-18 with another kill from Townsend.
 
SET 4 | UTA 21, NSU 25 | MATCH TIED 2-2
The Demons jumped out early, controlling the first half of the fourth set.  With NSU leading 19-11, an attack error sparked a 10-3 run from the Mavericks to get within one point of the Demons.  The momentum ran out, however, as NSU took the final three points to force a fifth set.
 
SET 5 | UTA 15, NSU 13 | UTA WINS 3-2
A back-and-forth battle ensued in the fifth set, with both teams taking turns with runs.  The Mavs started on a 5-1 run to take an early lead, but the Demons responded with six straight points.  Monica LaFleur started a 9-2 run to put UTA one point away from victory.  The Demons wouldn't give up, scoring four straight points to make it 14-13.  A dump from Jessica Stancliff ended the match, giving UTA the win.

UP NEXT
UTA will head into Sun Belt Conference player next weekend with a two-match winning streak as they head to Alabama to take on South Alabama (Sept. 24) and Troy (Sept. 25).

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