EDINBURG, Texas – The 5th-seeded UT Arlington volleyball team's chase of the Western Athletic Conference Championship came to an end on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament, falling 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 17-25) to 4th-seeded Utah Valley inside the UTRGV Fieldhouse.
 
The Mavs (17-10) jumped out to a quick four-point lead in the 1st set but were unable to maintain it as Utah Valley (17-10) rallied behind a 9-1 run and took the first set, 25-19. UTA took an exciting 2nd set, 25-23, outhitting the Wolverines .265 to .086. The Mavs could not get over the hump in the 3rd and 4th sets, falling 25-21 and 25-17, respectively, as UVU's 12 service aces provided a key difference.
 
Offensively, the Mavs were led by Briana Brown with 12 kills, while Devon Martinka and WAC First Team member Brianna Ford each chipped in with 11 kills apiece. As a team, the Mavs hit .203 for the match with 44 kills and 20 hitting errors on 118 total attacks.
 
Martinka led attack as the junior outside hitter delivered a season-high kill total on a year-best .417 hitting percentage when notching double-figure kills. Mollie Blank had 24 of the Mavs' 41 assists, while WAC All-Freshman Team selection Sophie Skinner finished with 15 of the other 17 helpers.
 
Defensively, the Mavs out-performed the Wolverines at the net, finishing with a 19-15 block edge, highlighted by Meredith Fisher's quintet of rejections. Kortney Puckett added four of her own as well.
 
Alli Wells paced the Mavs with 12 digs – reaching double figures for the 11th time in the last 12 games – while Blank and Brooke Townsend added seven each. For Wells, the dozen digs moved her into sole possession of 6th place on the program's all-time list as the junior libero now has 1,632 for her career.
 
The score was tied five times and the lead changed sides on four occasions in the 1st set, but after that in sets 2 and 3 the score was equal a combined five times and changed hands just twice.
 
A back-and-forth final 4th set saw it tied a match-high six times and alternate leads twice, but ultimately the two-time defending WAC Tournament Champion Wolverines proved too much to overcome.
 
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