ARLINGTON, TEXAS --- The UT Arlington volleyball team has a chance to secure the best start to a season in program history this weekend as the Mavs (6-0) will compete in the Tulsa Invitational inside the Reynolds Center.
 
UTA can match the best start with a win in the opener against Central Arkansas on Friday at 10 a.m. Should that happen, they can clinch the record with a win over Tulsa at 7 p.m. The Mavs will close the invite on Saturday at 11 a.m. against Oral Roberts.

Each match will have live stats, but only the UTA vs Tulsa match will be streamed. Should that change, follow us on Twitter (@utamavsvb) for updates.
 

TULSA INVITATIONAL - HOW TO FOLLOW
Opening Serve	Opponent	Match Coverage
Thursday | 6:30 PM	Tulsa vs. Oral Roberts	Stream | Live Stats
Friday | 10 AM	Central Arkansas vs. UT Arlington	Live Stats
Friday | 4 PM	Oral Roberts vs. Central Arkansas	Live Stats
Friday | 7 PM	Tulsa vs. UT Arlington	Stream | Live Stats
Saturday | 11 AM	UT Arlington vs. Oral Roberts	Live Stats
Saturday | 2 PM	Tulsa vs Central Arkansas	Stream | Live Stats

 
STORYLINES

• UTA's six-match winning streak is currently tied with 18 others for the fourth-longest in the nation behind Western Michigan (8), Kansas City (8) and Fordham (7).
   
• Head coach J.T. Wenger is just three wins shy of 100 in his career, which has included a 97-78 (.554) record over six-plus seasons. He is coming off his second-best season in Arlington and is looking to join Mary Ridgway (254, 1976-81), Diane Seymour (211, 2004-16), Lisa Love (199, 1982-88), Janine Smith (180, 180-137) and Jody Conradt (111, 1973-75) as one of six coaches in program history to reach the century mark.
   
• The Mavs have opened the season with back-to-back WAC Player of the Week awards, which includes Brianna Ford (Sept. 6) and Paige Reagor (Aug. 30).

MILESTONE WATCH

• Alli Wells needs 16 more digs to pass Jessica Bowlin (1,728, 1995-98) for fifth place on the program's career list. The graduate libero also currently ranks ninth among all NCAA Division I volleyball players in career digs.
   
• Brianna Ford is 13 kills shy of becoming the 25th player in program history to reach 900 in her career. Looking ahead, she's attempting to become the 20th player all-time with at least 1,000.
   
• Mollie Blank needs 14 more assists to reach 1,500 in her career. She needs 79 more to pass Heidi Christensen (1,564, 1993-94) for 11th on the program's career list.

DID YOU KNOW

• UT Arlington is now the only undefeated team among WAC programs, and they are just one of two teams in the state (Texas A&M) to remain loss-free as UTA has won the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic hosted by Air Force and the UTA Classic on back-to-back weekends.
   
• As a team, UT Arlington currently ranks first in the conference in hitting percentage (.269), assists per set (13.33) and kills per set (14.38). They are third in blocks per set (2.36) and fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.155).
   
• The Mavs have three individuals ranked among the top 10 in kills per set and points per set among WAC players. Brianna Ford (3.79, 3rd), Briana Brown (3.48, 5th) and Jalie Tritt (2.90, 10th) rank among the leaders in kills per set while Brianna Ford (4.39, 2nd), Briana Brown (3.90, 7th) and Paige Reagor (3.50, 10th) are among the best in points per set.
   
• Several others also rank among the top five WAC individuals in statistical categories: Mollie Blank ranks first with 10.32 assists per set while Paige Reagor is second with a .459 hitting percentage and third with 1.25 blocks per set. Alli Wells also ranks fifth with 3.86 digs per set.

HOT START
This year's team is off to the best start to a season in the program's past 19 years. They are the seventh in the 50+ year history of UT Arlington volleyball to start the season with at least six consecutive victories, and they are just the second to do it since 1987. The most recent team to achieve at least six wins to start the campaign was the 2004 squad that started 6-0.
 
Best starts in program history
1987   7-0
1973   7-0
2023   6-0
2004   6-0
1983   6-0
1981   6-0
1976   6-0

NON-CONFERENCE NUGGETS
The Mavs met Air Force for the first time on the road in series history in the season's opening weekend, which resulted in a five-set win. They'll face Texas Southern on the road for the first time next week.
 
Including their wins over Rhode Island and Air Force this year already, UTA is a combined 27-0 against those two schools along with Texas A&M Commerce and Texas Southern, including a 17-0 record against Commerce.
 
UTA is 54-11 all-time against North Texas, which includes an astounding 48-0 record to begin the series history, although North Texas has won seven of the past eight, including a straight-set victory last year.
 
WEEKEND SERIES HISTORY
The series against Oral Roberts dates back to Oct. 14, 1978 where the Mavs won 15-8, 15-4 in a neutral site meeting in Houston. UTA is 5-3 all-time in neutral site meetings, and this will be just the second neutral site matchup in the series history since 1981. That other occurred in Normal, Ill. on Aug. 28, 2009, which resulted in a three-set win for the Golden Eagles.
 
Meanwhile, the Mavs will meet Tulsa for the second time on the road in series history. The first matchup came on Sept. 2, 2011 and resulted in a three-set win for Tulsa. In fact, the Golden Hurricane have won four straight in the series dating back to 2006. The first-ever meeting in the series came on Sept. 8, 1984 in Arlington.
 
50 YEARS OF SEASON OPENERS
The Mavs improved 32-18-1 all-time in season openers, including a 10-3 record since 2011, with their season opening win over Bryant.
 
A few other notes about this year's opener include:

• This year's opener in Colorado marked the second time that UT Arlington opened a campaign in the Centennial State, joining the 1996 team's straight-set loss to Colorado in Boulder.
• In total, UTA has opened a season in a 11 states all-time, including Montana, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Kentucky, California, Delaware, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arizona and Arkansas.
• On top of that, this year's start tied for the fourth-earliest opener in program history behind the Aug. 24 start of the 2007, 2012 and 2018 teams.

SPEAK IT INTO EXISTENCE
Since 1987, there have been 24 instances of a UT Arlington volleyball player recording a triple-double, and there hasn't been one since Bianca Sauls tallied 10 kills, 10 assists and 13 digs against Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 4, 2010.
 
Here's some interesting triple-double factoids:

• There has only been one triple-double in assists, digs and blocks, which was recorded by Emily Nedderman against TCU on Aug. 29, 2006.
• Shawn Sweeten, a setter who played her freshmen year at Texas Tech before helping lead the Mavs to a 1989 NCAA Final 4 appearance, holds the program's career record for most triple-doubles with eight.
• Nine different players have recorded at least one triple-double.
• There has never been a triple-double comprised of kills, assists and blocks.

Here's a full list of all occurrences:
 

Shawn Sweeten	13 kills, 49 assists, 10 digs	Oklahoma (9/12/87)
Shawn Sweeten	13 kills, 46 assists, 12 digs	Montana (9/18/87)
Shawn Sweeten	11 kills, 31 assists, 13 digs	Texas A&M (11/28/87)
Shawn Sweeten	11 kills, 66 assists, 33 digs	Arizona (11/26/88)
Jackie Bennett	22 kills, 21 digs, 11 blocks	Arizona (11/26/88)
Shawn Sweeten	15 kills, 87 assists, 13 digs	Pepperdine (12/3/88)
Shawn Sweeten	10 kills, 57 assists, 12 digs	Cal Poly (9/15/89)
Shawn Sweeten	10 kills, 45 assists, 12 digs	Syracuse (10/27/89)
Shawn Sweeten	11 kills, 89 assists, 20 digs	Penn State (11/24/89)
Tina Herring	12 kills, 14 assists, 18 digs	Texas State (11/18/94)
Melissa Robinett	11 kills, 10 digs, 11 blocks	Lamar (9/19/03)
Heather Dunn	11 kills, 60 assists, 11 digs	Nicholls State (11/1/03)
Caley Smith	16 kills, 18 digs, 10 blocks	Northwestern State (9/17/04)
Caley Smith	12 kills, 13 digs, 10 blocks	McNeese (9/24/04)
Heather Dunn	10 kills, 64 assists, 13 digs	Texas State (10/15/04)
Heather Dunn	10 kills, 54 assists, 12 digs	Nicholls State (11/12/04)
Emily Nedderman	12 kills, 46 assists, 13 digs	Sam Houston (10/28/05)
Emily Nedderman	49 assists, 10 digs, 10 blocks	TCU (8/29/06)
Emily Nedderman	11 kills, 59 assists, 10 digs	Duquesne (9/9/06)
Emily Nedderman	11 kills, 40 assists, 10 digs	Little Rock (9/16/06)
Emily Nedderman	10 kills, 40 assists, 12 digs	Lamar (10/14/06)
Emily Nedderman	10 kills, 46 assists, 11 digs	Univ. of Miami (9/1/07)
Raegan Daniel	10 kills, 28 assists, 10 digs	Portland (9/11/10)
Bianca Sauls	10 kills, 10 assists, 13 digs	SE Louisiana (11/4/10)

 
WAC ANNOUNCES PRESEASON AWARDS
Brianna Ford was one of nine student-athletes selected for the WAC's Preseason All-Conference Team.
 
2023 Preseason All-Conference Team
Klaire Mitchell, Grand Canyon, Gr., S
Tatum Parrot, Grand Canyon, So., OH
Ielan Bradley, Stephen F. Austin, Sr., RS
Haley Hoang, Stephen F. Austin, Sr., L
Ariana Pagan, Stephen F. Austin, Gr., OH
Brianna Ford, UT Arlington, Sr., OH   
Luanna Emiliano, UTRGV, Jr., S
Luisa Silva Dos Santos, UTRGV, Sr., MB 
Tori Ellis, Utah Valley, Sr., OH   
 
SFA's Ielan Bradley (Player of the Year), UTRGV's Luanna Emiliano (Setter of the Year) and SFA's Haley Hoang (Libero of the Year) took home the major preseason awards. Meanwhile, UTA was tabbed to finish fifth in the WAC this year in a poll of the league's coaches:
 
2023 Preseason Coaches Poll
(First place votes in parentheses)
1. Stephen F. Austin, 99 points (9)
2. Grand Canyon, 87 points (1)
3. UTRGV, 80 points (1)
4. Utah Valley, 74 points
5. UT Arlington, 69 points
6. California Baptist, 56 points
7. Utah Tech, 45 points
8. Southern Utah, 34 points 
9. Tarleton State, 28 points
10. Abilene Christian, 22 points
11. Seattle U, 11 points
 
DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
With Friday night's win over Incarnate Word, UTA improved it's all-time record against teams from the state of Texas to 534-294-6. That includes 836 total matches as well as a 1,609 to 1,107 sets won vs lost advantage. The Mavs have played 42 different schools from Texas with the most matchups coming against Texas State (87), Lamar (82), Sam Houston (74), North Texas (65) and Stephen F. Austin (61). Incarnate Word ranks tied for 24th on that list with five all-time meetings against UTA.
 
50+ IN 50 SEASONS
UTA has played nine schools at least 50 times over its 50-year history, and two of those are North Texas (65) and McNeese (50). In fact, the Mavs have met only three opponents more than UNT: Texas State (87), Lamar (82) and Sam Houston (74).
 
87 - Texas State
82 - Lamar
74 - Sam Houston
65 - North Texas
61 - Stephen F. Austin
59 - ULM
53 - Texas A&M
50 - Houston
50 - McNeese
 
REAGOR'S BIG WEEK
Paige Reagor, a 6-6 middle blocker in her first season in Arlington after transferring in from Charleston Southern, tallied 33 kills while hitting .459 and producing 15 blocks over three victories for UTA en route to Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic MVP recognition. In doing so, she was also named the WAC Player of the Week.
 
In the opener against Bryant, Reagor produced 13 kills and seven blocks while hitting .458. She followed that up with eight kills at a .500 clip along with four blocks against Rhode Island, and she registered 12 kills, a .429 hitting percentage and four blocks in the finale against Air Force.
 
The honor is Reagor's third career conference player of the week award, including the two that she earned in the Big South in the spring 2021 post-Covid season.
 
HOME OPENERS
The Mavs are now 37-14 all-time in home openers following the win over Incarnate Word on Sept. 1. That includes a 13-1 record over the past 14.
 
NEW FACES ON STAFF
This offseason, head coach J.T. Wenger had two of his assistant coaches depart for jobs at their alma maters - Carlisa May (Arkansas State) and Emily Hill (Texas Tech). However, he immediately filled those roles with some very talented young coaches who may be familiar to area volleyball fans: Emily DeWalt, a setter who finished her career at Texas State this past season as the Sun Belt's all-time assist leader, and Lacey Jeffcoat, a defensive specialist who totaled 1,780 career digs over a five-year career at Troy (2018-21) and Mississippi State (2022). Jeffcoat competed against UT Arlington five times in her career while at Troy, ultimately registering 75 digs over that span, including 25 in a four-set match on Oct. 19, 2019 inside the College Park Center.

In addition to those two, Wenger added Gianluca Grasso as an assistant coach. A Brazilian native, Grasso registered 787 career kills over three seasons on the men's volleyball team at Southern Cal, culminating his career in 2019 before playing internationally.
 
50 SEASONS OF UTA VOLLEYBALL
This year marks the 51st season of UT Arlington volleyball dating back to the program's inception in 1973.  Over those 50+ seasons, the Mavs have built one of the richest volleyball traditions in NCAA Division I history with a 1,145-682-8 (.626) all-time record, which puts them 16th nationally in all-time wins. Meanwhile, UTA has compiled 16 national tournament appearances in either the NCAA or AIAW, including a Final Four appearance in 1989, and captured 22 combined regular season and tournament conference championships.
 
CATCHING YOU UP
This year's team is coming off a 17-10 season, which included a nine-match winning streak and a 9-5 finish in WAC play. The Mavs graduated Brooke Townsend, who concluded her illustrious career with 1,297 kills, which is 10th-most in program history. However, the squad returns nine players from last year, including 2023 Preseason All-WAC selection Brianna Ford and Alli Wells among a seven-person senior class.
 
Last year, Ford became the first player in program history to achieve First Team All-WAC recognition behind a monster campaign that included career-bests in kills (353), kills per set (3.39), hitting percentage (.243), digs (273), digs per set (2.63), assists (26), aces (26), blocks (87), blocks per set (0.84), solo blocks (13) and points (429.0). She enters this year needing 185 kills to become the 20th player in program history to reach 1,000 in a career.
 
Wells, meanwhile, led the Mavs defensive attack with a team-best 458 digs (4.20/set), a career-high 31 aces, 74 assists and one kill in 2022. She tallied double-digit digs in 24 of 27 matches and pushed her career total to 1,632, which is sixth-most in program history and 401 shy of becoming the all-time leader.
 
Reagor, a 6-6 middle blocker from Frisco, Texas, joins the Mavs after taking a year off school. She compiled 484 kills, a .279 hitting percentage, 200 blocks (38 solo), 33 digs, six assists and two aces over 55 career matches at Charleston Southern.
 
FOLLOW THE MAVS
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