ARLINGTON, TEXAS –The UT Arlington volleyball team (29-2,16-0 WAC) won the WAC volleyball championship with a 3-2 thriller (20-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23,16-14) over the Grand Canyon Lopes (20-11,11-5 WAC) on Saturday at the College Park Center to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The win marked the first conference championship since 2002, and the first Western Athletic Conference championship in program history.
 
In an absolute dramatic fashion, the Mavs rattled off five-straight points in set five to snatch away the championship from the Lopes, who had three match points of their own with a 14-11 lead.
 
Brianna Ford, the WAC Player of the Year, was named the tournament's most outstanding player after recording 25 kills, 16 digs and five blocks in the championship game. Sjakkie Donkers had a phenomenal game with 12 kills and 26 digs.
 
Paige Reagor pitched in 13 kills and six total blocks in the championship match while Mollie Blank had a match-high 56 assists and 13 digs in the win. Blank was named to the all-tournament team.
 
THROUGH THE MATCH
 
Set 1: GCU won, 25-20
Ford set the tone early scoring four points for the Mavericks with a pair of kills out of the front row before rotating back to serve and acing the Lopes for a 10-6 lead. A double-touch by GCU's Taylor Kubacak pushed UTA's lead to five, 11-6, resulting in the Lopes calling their first timeout. Ford added a kill out of the back row for a 13-7 lead before GCU clamped down.
 
The Lopes began a stretch of 12 straight rotations to close the first set and open the second set where UTA did not score off their serve, stopping any potential Maverick runs before they could start. Following Ford's sixth and final kill of Set 1 to give UTA a 19-15 edge, GCU closed with four straight points to tie the set, 19-19, then used a 5-0 run highlighted by a pair of Bella Anderson aces to close the opening stanza.
 
Set 2: UTA won, 25-17
The Lopes opened by continuing to sideout the Mavericks' first four rotations. The teams stayed within two points of each other early in the set with the score tied eight times through the set's first 18 points.  Outside hitter Evyn Snook, who entered the match late in the first set, made a strong impression with three kills early in Set 2 to provide setter Mollie Blank an additional weapon. Blank mixed up the offense with Snook, Ford, and Sjakkie Donkers each recording multiple kills as UTA broke a 9-9 tie by winning seven of the next nine points to open a wide enough margin, 16-11, from which GCU could not recover. 
 
Snook scored five of her 10 kills in the match in the second set to provide solid offensive support for Ford (seven kills) as the Mavericks two top weapons in the set. 
 
Set 3: GCU won, 25-20
GCU's Tatum Parrott took control of Set 3 early with three kills in the Lopes' first six points en route to a 7-4 early lead. Parrott, who had four kills in each of the first two sets, finished Set 3 with six kills and an ace.  UTA's Brianna Ford struggled in the set, with three kills and three errors. The Lopes led early with an 11-8 lead before UTA sided out and rattled off four points out of their first rotation for UTA's largest lead of the set, 13-11. The Mavericks kept their 2-point lead, 16-14, before GCU ran off four straight points – including Parrott's timely ace and a Trista Strasser kill out of the middle – for an 18-16 GCU lead. 
 
With the scored tied 19-19, GCU's two All-Tournament selections Ashley Lifgren and Tatum Parrott came through for the Lopes with two kills apiece to close the set on a 6-1 run and pull ahead of the Mavericks, 2-sets-to-1. 
 
Set 4: UTA won, 25-23
Needing a set win to extend the match, head coach J.T. Wenger made the biggest change to his lineup of the night, flipping his outside hitters. Sjakkie Donkers lined up next to middle blocker Paige Reagor, and Evyn Snook started left-back, giving her two front-row rotations with Brianna Ford. The move sparked both Reagor and Donkers, as the duo scored 10 of UTA's 18 kills of the set, including six of Reagor's 12 for the match. 
 
GCU's Ava Mason served the Lopes to a 10-5 lead with a pair of aces as part of a 4-point run. With UTA down by five in a set they needed to extend the match, Donkers' second kill of the set rotated Reagor back into the front row. Cansu Gunaydin, who started Set 1 as an outside hitter and re-entered the match as a serving specialist in Set 3, subbed in to serve for middle blocker Sophie Ocampo. With Gunaydin's aggressive serve and defensive efforts in the back row and Reagor's 6'6" frame back at the net, UTA's offense kicked in. Reagor put away four of her six kills during the next three rotations, as UTA's 9-4 run knotted the set, 14-14. 
 
Parrott, trying to lead the Lopes to back-to-back WAC Championships, ended UTA's run with one of her six kills in the set, as GCU took a strong 3-point lead late into what could have been the deciding set. The Lopes led 19-16 as both squads traded points for a GCU 21-18 lead, putting the Mavericks four points away from elimination. With the match and season on the line, UTA took care of the ball when GCU did not. Reagor notched her sixth kill of the set to pull UTA within two, 21-19, and Brianna Ford followed suit to pull the Mavericks within one. GCU's Ava Mason made a pair of setting errors and the duo of Reagor and Ford housed a Parrott attack to put the Mavericks ahead 23-21, capping a 5-0 UTA run that held up through the end of Set 4.
 
Set 5: UTA won, 15-11
 
In a quick sprint to 15 with the WAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament on the line, the Mavericks picked the wrong time to struggle in serve receive. Mykenna Nelson's serves stymied UTA's passers, with a pair of bad passes leaving Mollie Blank scrambling to track down the ball and cutting UTA's offense off before it could start. Wenger called an early timeout, trailing 4-2, however the Lopes were undeterred.  Out of the timeout, Parrott robbed Evyn Snook of a kill with a 1-armed dig off the block, and Reagor committed an uncharacteristic hitting error in transition to extend the Lopes run. 
 
Trista Strasser and Magdelena Juric put up a double-block against Snook for a 6-2 lead before a Reagor kill stopped the bleeding. That kill, however, rotated Reagor to the back row, and two points later, Tatum Parrott sided out for a 7-4 lead. A pair of UTA errors – one attacking and one setting – pushed the GCU lead to five, 9-4, as Wenger called his second and final timeout of the deciding set. 
 
Brianna Ford tooled the GCU block out of the timeout, siding out but also rotating the WAC Player of the Year into the back row. Tatum Parrott put down her 24th kill of the night for a 10-5 lead, also rotating to the back row for GCU. Off Parrott's serve, Blank set Ford out of the back row who drove the ball at GCU setter Taylor Kubacak, putting the Lopes out of system. Libero Mykenna Nelson bump-set a pipe to Parrott in the back row, but GCU's all-conference selection rolled the ball into the net to give UTA life. Ashley Lifgren picked up her teammate with a quick kill out of serve receive to put GCU four points away from the NCAA Tournament, 11-6. 
 
Ford ended a rally with a roll shot of her own out of the back row that dropped harmlessly in the center of the court just out of reach of GCU's back row, rotating Reagor back into the front row. Gunaydin subbed in to serve for Ocampo and aced Nelson, waking up the raucous home crowd in College Park Center, and prompting a GCU timeout up 11-8. Anaelena Ramirez sided out with her only kill of the set for a 12-8 lead. Wenger unsuccessfully challenged the play, but the brief break in play allowed UTA the chance to collect itself. Out of serve-receive, Blank fed Reagor who hit over GCU's block for a kill. Reagor and Donkers sealed a double-block on the left side to cut the Lopes lead to two before Ashley Lifgren's late kill gave GCU a 13-10 lead.
 
Blank fed Reagor out of serve receive, but Aubrey Goodere's block slowed the attack enough for GCU's back-row to dig it out and set up Parrott, whose attack bounced off the UTA block to the back corner where Evyn Snook raced to cover the play. In transition, Blank fed Reagor in the gap for a 10-foot-line kill cutting the Lopes lead back to two, 13-11.
 
Out of serve receive, Parrott put a ball away to the deep corner to give GCU triple championship point, 14-11.  Wenger challenged the play looking for a net violation, and again the challenge failed but gave UTA time to reset itself. On GCU's first match point, Blank dished a backset to Brianna Ford who beat Parrott, 1-on-1, for the kill. GCU's second match point ended quickly as Ford and Sophie Ocampo stuffed Parrott out of serve receive, leading to GCU's second and final timeout.
 
With a 14-13 lead and a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line, Ava Mason set outside to Parrott whose cross-court attack drifted toward the sideline near the feet of the line judge, who stepped away from the ball before flagging the point in, ostensibly securing GCU's second consecutive championship. Immediately, the first official blew his whistle and overruled the line judge, calling the ball out and prompting an immediate challenge from GCU head coach Kendra Potts. Replay showed the ball just beyond the line, confirming the up-ref's call, tying the fifth set 14-14. 
 
GCU set a pair of balls outside to Tatum Parrott, who had the attacks returned by the block of Ford and Ocampo, putting the Lopes out of system. Parrott saved the ball against the scorer's table, bumping across to Juric for a right-side attack. Ocampo, an opposite-turned-middle midway through the season, shuffled to her left and sealed the block with Evyn Snook to deny the attack and win the point, giving UTA championship point, 15-14.
 
The Mavericks would not need three attempts to seal the match. Off Samantha Glenn's fourth straight serve, UTA battled GCU in a back-and-forth rally controlled by each team's star player. In her third attack on the play, Parrott avoided the block, tipping the ball to UTA's back row where Donkers' perfect pass gave Blank all her options. With Snook available on the outside and Ocampo up quickly in the middle, Blank gave the ball to her fellow fifth-year with a backset to Brianna Ford. The Amarillo, Texas, native wiped the ball off Parrott's block and in doing so, wiped away the Lopes to secure the championship, 16-14. 
 

THOUGHTS FROM COACH
"A remarkable win," said head coach J.T. Wenger. "This team once again had their backs against the wall and they were able to pull it through. So proud of everyone, our fans were electric tonight, and they stayed with us even when we were down. Proud of this team."
 
 
   
 
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