ARLINGTON, TEXAS --- The UT Arlington volleyball team (10-2) hit .324 as a team en route to a 25-18, 26-28, 25-19, 25-22 win over McNeese in the UTA Invitational on Friday at Arlington ISD Athletics Center.
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UTA produced its fifth match of .300+ offensively behind a season-best 52 assists from
Mollie Blank, who came within one of matching her career-high of 53 established against Tarleton on Feb. 5, 2021. Offensively, the duo of
Brianna Ford (23) and
Jalie Tritt (17) combined for 40 of the team's 65 kills.
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Ford continued her march toward 1,000 career kills with a match-best 23 terminations at a .457 clip. She added five digs, three blocks and an ace while Tritt also contributed eight digs and three blocks.
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At the service line,
Kortney Puckett (4) and
Alli Wells (3) combined for seven of the team's nine aces. Puckett added a match-best five blocks while Wells finished with a team-high 15 digs.
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The Mavs will be back in action on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Texas A&M - Commerce in the finale of the UTA Invitational.
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NOTES
- The Mavs, who have now won seven straight in the all-time series against McNeese, are now 36-15 against the Cowgirls.
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- With her 15 digs, Wells surpassed 1,800 in her career, pushing her all-time total to 1,812. It was her ninth match this season with at least 15 digs. She needs just nine more digs to surpass Caitlyn Cooney (1,820, 2012-15) for fourth place on the program's all-time list.
- With her 23 kills, Ford now sits at 963 in her career, and she elevated herself into the top 20 in program history by surpassing three people on Friday - April Lee (946, 1990-93), Michele Humbach (953, 1982-84) and Kylie Jedlicka (959, 2016-19). Â
- With McNeese hitting .270 as a team, the Mavs won their 21st match in head coach J.T. Wenger's era when allowing an opponent to hit between .200-.299.
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