ARLINGTON --- The UT Arlington volleyball team (14-6, 3-4 WAC) suffered a heartbreaking 19-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-22, 17-15 loss to Abilene Christian (10-9, 5-2) inside the College Park Center on Thursday night.
In what was the fifth-largest crowd (1,158) to witness a collegiate volleyball match inside the CPC, the Mavs received 23 kills from
Brianna Ford, who added 11 digs, five blocks, three aces and three assists for her third-consecutive double-double. She now has back-to-back outings with 20+ kills, and she's slammed home at least 15 in three straight and seven of the past nine.
The Mavs dominated the match early on, hitting .343 in the opening set before siding out at a 78 percent clip in the second set for a 2-0 lead. During that span, there was no ties and UTA never trailed.
That all changed in the third set, in large part to the offensive effort of ACU's Bryley Steinhilber, who registered nine kills at a .389 clip in the third set, nine kills at a .750 rate in the fourth set and four more at .300 in the fifth. In fact, she totaled all 23 of her terminations in the final three sets and finished the match with a .346 hitting percentage, 12 digs and two aces.
Over the final three sets, the match featured 16 ties and nine lead changes, including nine and four, respectively, in the fifth set as the Wildcats got a measure of revenge for UTA's 18-16 fifth-set win at home last year over them.
In addition to Ford, the Mavs got a masterful effort from
Paige Reagor, who produced a season-high 14 kills, a .458 hitting percentage, five blocks and two digs.
Jalie Tritt added 10 kills and matched her career high with 16 digs for her fifth career double-double.
Evyn Snook chipped in eight kills.
In terms of Ford, it was her eighth career outing with at least 20 kills, and she tallied her 35th career double-double. If that wasn't enough, it was also her fourth career outing with at least three aces.
Mollie Blank led all Mavs with 44 assists along with four digs, four blocks and one termination. She now has eight of her 10 career outings with 40+ assists this year alone.
Defensively,
Kortney Puckett totaled eight blocks, three kills and two digs in what was her second performance with at least eight stuffs this year and the sixth of her career.
In addition to Tritt's effort,
Alli Wells contributed 15 digs along with four assists. It was her 67th career outing with at least 15, and she moved into second place on the program's all-time career list with 1,929. She surpassed Ashley Smith (1,921, 2003-06) and now only trails Alicia Shaffer (2,033, 2008-11) for the top spot.
Alyssa Duran added 11 digs to give UTA four players in double-digits. It was her seventh outing this year with at least 10 and the 25th of her career, which ties her with Blank for third-most on the team.
UTA will be back in action against Tarleton at home on Saturday at 12 p.m. It will be Alumni Day, and the Mavs will recognize the 50th anniversary of the program's inaugural 1973 team, which was coached by the legendary Jody Conradt.
NOTES
With her offensive effort, Ford pushed her career termination total to 1,086, which moves her past Torie Dacus (1,071, 2004-07) and within 11 of passing Jessica Bowlin (1,096, 1995-98) for 16th place on the program's all-time list.
The Mavs fell to 11-4-1 all-time against Abilene Christian with the loss, and it was the first time they've lost to the Wildcats at home in series history (1-4).
Thursday's crowd was the fifth largest crowd to witness a UTA volleyball match inside the CPC. The top five includes a pair of matches from this season.
2,108 - Texas State - Oct. 15, 2015
1,433 – Incarnate Word – Sept. 1, 2023
1,396 - Texas State - Oct. 13, 2016
1,251 - Texas State - Oct. 8, 2014
1,158 – Abilene Christian – Oct. 12, 2023
– #BuckEm –
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.
