UTA Volleyball Defeats North Texas
Arlington, Texas – UT Arlington claimed an impassioned sweep over North Texas at College Park Center on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks fell behind 10-3 in the opening frame, but were able to reverse their fortunes as they stormed back to take the set 25-21. The momentum carried over into the second set as UTA never trailed and put together a 10-2 run to take control of the set. Relying on the third largest College Park Center volleyball crowd in UTA history, the Mavs pulled out a nail biting third set 26-24.
The Mavericks made their presence known at the net as they out-blocked the Mean Green 10.5-4. In addition to the blocking prowess, UTA also was effective digging the ball as they out-dug UNT 57-51.
After trailing by as many as seven points in the opening frame, UTA stormed back to take the set 25-21. A key reason for the Mavs comeback was the play of sophomore outside hitter Qiana Canete. The Copperas Cove native recorded five kills, while also registering a .357 hitting percentage.
UT Arlington relied on efficiency at the net in the victory, hitting .283 compared to .138 for North Texas. The Mavs registered 48 kills on 120 attempts.
Caitlyn Cooney continued to climb her way up the all-time charts in career digs. The Houston native registered 19 digs, which moves her past Dani Johnson’s 1,446 career digs. Cooney now is now eight digs short of moving into eighth place in career digs by a Maverick player.
Canete ended with a match-high 16 kills, while also picking up 11 digs on the way to her second double-double of the season. Canete recorded five kills in each of the first two sets before recording six in the final frame.
Junior Kaitlyn Granger entered Wednesday’s match with 11 kills in the first three matches of the season. The Arlington native nearly matched that mark against Mean Green as she notched nine kills in the match to go along with a .529 hitting percentage.
