STEPHENVILLE, Texas --- The UT Arlington volleyball team (11-4, 3-0 WAC) took down Tarleton (8-10, 0-4) 28-26, 25-16, 25-19 inside the Wisdom Gym on Saturday. In doing so, the Mavericks stretched their winning streak to nine straight while picking up the first road WAC sweep in program history.
"We were powered by a potent offensive efficiency and a stout block, which allowed us to get a big win on the road," UT Arlington head coach
J.T. Wenger said. "This was a team win, as our depth continues to be a major factor in our success this year."
The victory allowed this year's squad to tie the 1985 and 1987 teams for the 15th-longest winning streak in program history. It is the longest stretch in the past 20 years behind the 2002 team's 17-game streak, and it moves them in to a tie with Rice and Yale for the eighth-longest streak in the country. On top of that, they've won 11 of the past 12 overall.
| Longest win streaks in program history |
| 1. |
25 |
1989 |
| 2. |
22 |
1978 |
| 3. |
20 |
1988 |
| 4. |
18 |
1974 |
| 5. |
17 |
2002 |
| 6. |
16 |
1998 |
| 7. |
15 |
1986 |
| 8. |
13 |
1978 |
| T9. |
12 |
1985, 1977 |
| T11. |
11 |
2001, 1980, 1973 |
| 14. |
10 |
1977 |
| T15. |
9 |
2022, 1987, 1985 |
Against Tarleton, the Mavericks had four players hit at least .300 en route to a .290 percentage as a team, which also included a 42 percent kill percentage. Led by
Ava Burroughs, who had a team-high five blocks off the bench, UTA totaled 21 blocks (five solo) as a team.
Brianna Ford led UT Arlington offensively with 14 kills, a .462 hitting percentage, eight digs, three blocks, two aces and one assist in what was her 10th match with double-digit kills this year.
Briana Brown finished second on the team in kills with eight at a .273 clip.
Jalie Tritt (.357) and
Meredith Fisher (.333) each added seven kills.
Sophie Skinner led the team in assists for the 11th consecutive match with 33. She also added six digs, which was just two shy of the team-best that was achieved by
Alli Wells, Ford and
Alyssa Duran.
Outside of Burroughs and Ford, the duo of Tritt and
Brooke Townsend finished with four blocks apiece, which also included two solo blocks each.
Simara Peyton also added a pair of blocks. Ford's two aces led the team while Skinner, Wells and Duran had one apiece.
The opening set was a back-and-forth battle as the two teams combined for 14 ties and four lead changes. Tarleton scored four of five to tie things up at 18 apiece, and the two teams exchanged the next nine points - a stretch that was capped by a kill from Fisher to give UT Arlington a 23-22 lead. The hosts responded with two straight points, and the Mavs called a timeout. Out of the break, Townsend got a set-tying kill from the left side and then teamed with Peyton for a big double-block to give UTA a set point, which Tarleton fought off. Townsend answered with a solo block, but the host Texans answered once again. Following that, though, Ford finished the set with back-to-back kills.
Tarleton opened the second set in a strong way with five straight points, but UT Arlington responded with 21 of the next 27 points to take firm control of the set. The Texans did score five straight to trim the deficit to five, but the Mavs took a timeout before finishing the set with four straight.
The final set was close as UT Arlington clung to a 21-19 lead late. However, a service error spurred a 4-0 run for the Mavs, who also got solo blocks from Tritt and Fisher, who also teamed up for a double block on the other point in the run.
UT Arlington will be back in action at home in the College Park Center - where they are 5-1 this year - on Thursday at 6 p.m. against California Baptist. They'll close out the two-match homestand against Grand Canyon at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
"We're eager to play our WAC home opener in front of our awesome crowd in the CPC," Wenger said."
Notes
Townsend added two kills to her career total and sits at 1,192 overall, which puts her 54 shy of passing Fannie Burton (1,245, 1991-94) for 11th place on the program's all-time list.
For just the second time this year, Wells was held to single-digit digs. Despite that, she pushed her career total to 1,429 and needs just 18 more to pass Dani Johnson (1,446, 2004-07) for 10th place on the program's all-time list.
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