ABILENE, Texas --- The UT Arlington volleyball team (9-4, 1-0 WAC) will look to extend its seven-game winning streak on Thursday with a road matchup against Abilene Christian (4-9, 1-0) at 6 p.m. inside the Moody Coliseum.
 
The Mavs, who will conclude the weekend at Tarleton on Saturday at 1 p.m., enter the matchup riding the longest winning streak in head coach J.T. Wenger's tenure. This past Saturday, UT Arlington produced a five-set victory on the road over Grand Canyon in the program's first regular season WAC victory since Nov. 25, 2012 over Louisiana Tech. 
 

UT ARLINGTON VOLLEYBALL INFORMATION
Match 14	UT Arlington (9-4, 1-0 WAC) at Abilene Christian (4-9, 1-0 WAC)
Date | Time	Thursday, Sept. 29 | 6 p.m.
Location	Moody Coliseum | Abilene, Texas
Live Stats	Stat Broadcast
Streaming	ESPN+ ($)
Tickets	Abilene Christian Ticket Office
Game Notes	UT Arlington

 
GOING STREAKING
With seven consecutive victories, including successful outcomes in nine of the past 10, UT Arlington has produced the program's longest winning streak under Wenger's direction. It is also the longest streak in the program overall since the 2014 team won eight straight from Oct. 8 – 31.

BACK IN THE WAC
UT Arlington volleyball returns to the WAC this year following a nine-year stint in the Sun Belt Conference. The Mavericks, who spent one season in the WAC in 2012, finished 5-13 in conference play and lost in the opening round of the conference tournament to Utah Tech that season. This year, UTA was voted to finish eighth in the preseason poll.
 

WAC PRESEASON POLL
1.	New Mexico State (6)	135
2.	Utah Valley (5)	129
3.	Grand Canyon (1)	127
4.	Sam Houston (1)	99
5.	Stephen F. Austin	95
6.	California Baptist	90
7.	UTRGV	86
8.	UT Arlington	54
9.	Tarleton	50
	Utah Tech	50
11.	Abilene Christian	37
12.	Southern Utah	32
13.	Seattle	17

AN OFFENSIVE FORCE
Brianna Ford, an Amarillo, Texas native, has led UT Arlington to an 9-4 start this year behind a superb overall performance. The third-year standout is averaging career-bests across the board – kills per set (3.13), hitting percentage (.246), aces per set (0.24), digs per set (2.57), blocks per set (0.83) and points per set (3.85). Among individuals, she ranks among the top five in the WAC in total points (2nd, 208), total kills (3rd, 169) and kills per set (5th). Overall, she has notched eight double-doubles this year, which includes her 13-kill, 13-dig performance in the conference opener against Grand Canyon and pushes her career total to a team-best 19. She has nine matches with 10+ kills and nine with 10+ digs. Award-wise, she became the program's first-ever WAC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12, was named the MVP in both the UTA Invitational and UTSA Invitational, and she earned a spot on the UTA Classic all-tourney team.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
As a team, UT Arlington ranks among the nation's top 75 in total blocks (26th, 135), blocks per set (44th, 2.50), opponent hitting percentage (45th, .169), win/loss percentage (69th, .692) and service aces (58th, 81). Among those categories, the Mavs also lead all WAC teams in blocks per set, opponent hitting percentage and total blocks.
 
DOWN TO THE WIRE
UT Arlington is 4-1 in five-set matches this year, including wins in four straight after dropping a five-set match to North Dakota on Aug. 27. Among those victories, the Mavs dropped the opening set against Providence, trailed UTSA 2-0 and came back against Lamar after being down 2-1.
  
TOWNSEND ASCENDS CAREER KILLS LIST
Fifth-year senior Brooke Townsend became the 19th Maverick to reach 1,000 kills last year and is now approaching the top 10 of the program's all-time list, currently alone in 12th place and trailing Fannie Burton (1,245, 1991-94) for 11th. She produced a season-high 16 kills in the Sept. 3 win over Providence and followed that up with 15 against McNeese on Sept. 9. She then notched two more double-digit performances en route to UTA Invitational all-tournament team accolades on Sept. 17 before opening WAC play with 10 kills against Grand Canyon. Her 1,174 career total ranks 56th among all active NCAA Division I players, and she is 63rd in career sets played with 434.
 

UTA CAREER KILLS
1.	Heather Hoy	1,787	1994-97
2.	Ana de Oliveira	1,729	1985-88
3.	Amber Pack	1,578	1999-2002
4.	Qiana Canete	1,505	2014-17
5.	Valeria Whitfield	1,490	1990-92
6.	Caley Smith	1,416	2001-04
7.	Judith McGill	1,407	1983-86
8.	Trisha Walker	1,344	1997-2000
9.	Chris Rudiger	1,330	1986-89
10.	Teresa Ogden	1,251	1982-83
11.	Fannie Burton	1,245	1991-94
12.	Brooke Townsend	1,174	2018-Pres.
13.	Amanda Aguilera	1,164	2008-11
14.	Shari Parks	1,148	1984-87
15.	Zhanelle Geathers	1,132	2014-18

 
DIGGING UP THE CHART
Alli Wells opened WAC played with a match-high 22 digs against Grand Canyon, which was her 32nd career match with 20-plus, including her fifth of the season. In doing so, she continued to inch her way up the program's career list, moving past Caitlyn Cooney (1,384, 2012-15) and becoming the 12th Mav all-time with 1,400-plus digs. She is now just 13 digs shy of surpassing Chris Rudiger (1,413, 1986-89) for 11th. Despite having her 26-match streak of consecutive double-digit digs snapped against New Orleans on Sept. 16, the fourth-year libero ranks 41st in total digs (1,401) among all active NCAA Division I players. This year alone, Wells ranks 61st nationally in total digs (227), 80th in service aces (21) and 96th in digs per set (4.20). She also earned a spot on the all-tournament team in the UTSA Invitational Sept. 10.
 

UTA CAREER DIGS
1.	Alicia Shaffer	2,033	2008-11
2.	Ashley Smith	1,921	2003-06
3.	Amber Pack	1,887	1999-02
4.	Jessica Bowlin	1,728	1995-98
5.	Qiana Canete	1,626	2014-17
6.	Judith McGill	1,623	1983-86
7.	Torie Dacus	1,564	2004-07
8.	Ana de Oliveira	1,550	1985-88
9.	Trisha Walker	1,455	1997-00
10.	Dani Johnson	1,446	2004-07
11.	Chris Rudiger	1,413	1986-89
12.	Alli Wells	1,401	2019-present
13.	Caitlyn Cooney	1,384	2012-15
14.	Katie Weismiller	1,370	1983-86
15.	Caley Smith	1,318	2001-04

 
BLANK REACHES MILESTONE
Third-year setter Mollie Blank notched her 1,000th career assist against North Dakota on Aug. 27. She enters the Abilene Christian match with 1,080, and her double-double against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 2 (38 assists, 13 digs) gave her 15 career double-doubles.

SOLID PRESENCE
Alyssa Duran, a third-year defensive specialist, recorded back-to-back matches with double-digit digs to finish up the UTA Invitational Sept. 17, including a season-best 15 in the come-from-behind win over Lamar University in five sets. She has three matches with double-digit digs this season.

STUFFING IT
Meredith Fisher and Brianna Ford have each surpassed 100 career blocks this year.
 
Fisher reached 100 career blocks in the Sept. 17 win over Lamar as the fourth-year standout became the first Mav in six years to produce at least 10 blocks in the win, pushing her career total to 107. She also recorded nine blocks in the team's season opener and is averaging a WAC and career-best 1.18 blocks per set this year, which is nearly twice her previous career best (0.56, 2019).  
 
Ford reached the milestone in the team's season opener and has pushed her total to 143 through 13 matches. In fact, she has 45 this year, which is already 78 percent of her career-best total of 58 from all of last year.
 
AWARD-WINNING SUCCESS AT HOME
The Mavs have tallied a 5-1 record at home behind strong individual performances in the UTA Classic (Sept. 3-4) and UTA Invitational (Sept. 16-17).
 
In the UTA Classic, the duo of Brianna Ford and Jalie Tritt was named to the all-tournament team. Ford, who produced a pair of double-doubles over the three matches, totaled 31 kills, 31 digs and 14 blocks. Tritt, who is in her rookie campaign, totaled 42 kills, 28 digs, seven blocks and three aces. She notched at least nine digs in each of those outings, as well. On Sept. 17, Ford was named the MVP of the UTA Invitational after averaging 3.08 kills and 3.17 digs per set while adding four aces, six blocks and four assists. Tritt also added another all-tourney selection with 2.5 kills, 1.9 digs and 0.7 blocks per set while Brooke Townsend earned an all-tourney nod, too, with back-to-back double-digit kill performances.

BACK-TO-BACK
For just the second time in program history, UT Arlington produced back-to-back conference freshman of the week awards behind the play of Jalie Tritt (Sept. 19) and Sophie Skinner (Sept. 12). Tritt helped the Mavs capture the UTA Invitational championship by averaging 2.5 kills, 1.9 digs and 0.7 blocks per set. In the opening win over New Orleans, Tritt hit .500 with eight kills, a season-high 12 digs and three blocks. She concluded the weekend with 13 kills, six digs and four blocks in a come-from-behind, five-set victory over Lamar.
 
SKINNER CONTINUES TO ASCEND
Week-by-week, rookie Sophie Skinner continues to solidify herself as one of the team's most important players. In the UTA Invitational, the Hot Springs, Ark. native tallied at least 31 assists in all three matches, including her third with 40-plus this season. That came following a weekend in San Antonio where she earned UTSA All-Tournament team and WAC Freshman of the Week recognition behind a season-best 45 assists against South Florida as part of back-to-back 40-plus assist performances that also included her first career double-double. This past Thursday, she notched her second double-double (37 assists, 10 digs) in the win over GCU. Overall, she's registered 359 assists, 76 digs, 18 kills and 11 aces this year.
 
Skinner competed in the Under Armour All-America Game this past December, which recognizes the most skilled high school players in the country. She was named MVP among the 24 players selected to participate.
 
EXPERIENCE RETURNS
The Mavericks have three players who scored over 270 points last season (Briana Brown, Brooke Townsend, Brianna Ford), returning 76 percent of their total points from a season ago overall. Furthermore, two all-conference selections from a season ago in Briana Brown (First Team All-SBC) and Alli Wells (Second Team All-SBC) are back, as well as former All-SBC selections in Brooke Townsend (2019, 2020) and Brianna Ford (2020).

NEW FACES
The Mavericks brought in four new faces to the program this season – Sophie Ocampo (Humble, Texas; Kingwood HS), Jalie Tritt (Little Rock, Ark.; Episcopal Collegiate School), Ava Burroughs (Quitman, Texas; Quitman HS), and Sophie Skinner (Hot Springs, Ark.; Fountain Lake HS). Three of the four have seen significant action this year while Ocampo will redshirt.
 
FORD SPENDS 20TH IN EUROPE
Brianna Ford spent her 20th birthday in Europe as she participated in the 2022 Global Challenge in Croatia, helping lead her team to a 1st place finish and being named to the all-tournament team.
 
FOLLOW THE MAVS
For the latest news on UTA Volleyball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Mavs on social media. Follow the Mavericks on Twitter @UTAMavsVB, on Instagram @UTAMavsVB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/UTAMavsVB.