MISSOULA, Montana --- The UT Arlington volleyball team (0-3) lost a heartbreaking five-set decision (7-25, 25-21, 27-25, 9-25, 15-12) to North Dakota (1-2) inside Dahlberg Arena on Saturday to conclude the Ellesyn Invitational.
 
The Mavericks will shift focus to the UTA Classic scheduled for Friday and Saturday, which includes matchups against Texas A&M – Commerce, Providence and North Texas inside the College Park Center.
 
Despite the loss, third-year setter Mollie Blank achieved a career milestone in the fourth set by reaching 1,000 career assists. She hit the mark with her 16th distribution, added three more in the match and now sits at 1,003 in her career. Blank had eight digs and two aces in the match, as well.
 
The key to the match was offensive efficiency as the Mavericks hit very well in the two sets they won, delivering a .667 performance in the opening set and a .429 percentage in the fourth. In fact, they made just three errors in those two frames. In the other three sets combined, they hit .068.
 
Several players stood out offensively for the Mavericks, highlighted by Brianna Ford and Jalie Tritt. Ford notched her 13th career double-double with a match-high 16 kills along with 11 digs, four blocks (one solo) and a pair of aces. Tritt hit .308 with a season-best 11 kills, nine digs, two blocks and an ace.  Additionally, Meredith Fisher had eight kills at a .429 clip while Nya Blair added five at a .400 pace. Those four players combined for 40 of the team's 50 kills while hitting .288.
 
In addition to Blank's 19 assists, true freshman Sophie Skinner chipped in 13 while Jessica Stancliff and Alli Wells each had five. Alyssa Duran also had three as five players combined for the team's 45 distributions. Wells added a match-high 22 digs and was one of three players with two aces along with Ford and Blank. Duran, meanwhile, tacked on seven digs.
 
At the net, UTA totaled 18 blocks (two solo), led by four block assists apiece from Fisher and Kortney Puckett. Ford and Blair combined for the two solo blocks.
 
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