Written by Shambhu Sharan on 08-15-09
ARLINGTON – UT-Arlington’s volleyball team won a three set match against Northwestern State on Wednesday in Texas Hall after losing over the weekend.
The Maverick team took the first set 25-10, the second set 25-13 and the third set 25-12 in the Southland game against the opponent Lady Demons. UTA’s overall record is now 7-11 and jumped up to 3-3 in the SLC.
Middle blocker Christy Driscoll, outside hitter Amanda Aguilera and junior hitter Bianca Sauls killed seven each and the team had a total of .507 hitting percentage with only one hitting error throughout the game.
UTA’s head coach Diane Seymour said tonight’s mavericks played a remarkable game.
“This is probably the most crisp they have been where they are pretty error free for the night.” said Seymour. “I knew going into third set tonight that have had zero errors ended up with only one. So again that’s kind of one of those nights that you can’t do anything wrong. I wish tonight could have been every night. But, tonight was our night and I am pleased with it.”
The Demons had to wait until the third set to establish a lead, but the Mavs were quick to void it. Raegan Daniel provided 28 assists and libero Alicia Shaffer had four digs.
“We are extremely comfortable in Texas Hall,” said Emily Shearin. “Playing here makes us very comfortable. We definitely had to play our game throughout. That team was not playing as
good as we had been playing. So, we lowered our play today. Emotional side, we have to keep our emotion high throughout the game. We will definitely play our game not going their level they played.”
Northwestern State tried a late-set rally and the Mavs won the match with a 25-12 third set.
“They both did a very good job,” Seymour said. “Our two middle blockers are very quality players. I was very pleased with how Christy approached the game today. Emily had a few less kills, but I saw her take the best swing she’s taken since she’s gotten to UTA. Daniel made the blocker successful.
UTA dominated the first set from beginning to end against the Lady Demons.
“I’ve been confident in my hitters all season,” Daniel said. “But they obviously did really good tonight. We got really excited the whole match which made us play faster and harder.”
Tara Frantz, Bianca Sauls and Daniel finished the first set with a hitting percentage and the team combined 11 kills on a .688 percentage.
“We’re really confident in Texas Hall,” Daniel said. “We just need to work on taking that confidence on the road with us.”
The team put down 15 more kills on a .469 hitting percentage in the second set. Sauls added four kills and Driscoll and Daniel pitched in three each.
Shearin minded the net with one solo block and a block-assist with Daniel.
“We definitely had to play our game throughout,” Shearin said. “We knew that [Northwestern State] isn’t playing as good as the other teams we’ve been playing. We had to keep our emotion
high throughout the game.”
The next match the Mavs will play is against Central Arkansas on Saturday.
“The teams have been struggling this season,” said Seymour. “This is important match to win here home because Central Arkansas defeated North Division. Teams have other two places to play. We have only two kids who played in Central Arkansas in that Gym. We are the only one in Southwestern team Central Arkansas has not beaten. We are confident. We don’t care who are playing, where we are playing. We are going to win this match.”
UTA have defeated Central Arkansas for three consecutive years 2006-08.