UTA Volleyball Defeats Georgia Southern
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STATESBORO, Ga. – Looking to head into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament next week with back to back wins under its belt, UT Arlington picked up a crucial four-set (25-19, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20) win over Georgia Southern on Friday night.
“We really started to block some balls tonight and that really seemed to take them out of their offensive system,” UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. “We also did a great job at the service line with seven aces and that made it so they couldn’t get Kym Coley involved enough.”
The win puts the Mavericks at 24-8 this season with a 14-6 mark in conference play while the Eagles fall to 7-22 overall with a 6-13 record in the Sun Belt.
Hannah Baptiste led the charge offensively as she registered a team-high 11 kills to go along with seven digs.
“I just tried to go out there and swing and not worry about making errors,” Baptiste said. “Picking up a win tonight was really important to get a streak going and we just wanted to play for our seniors in their last regular season match.”
Also chipping in offensively was a trio of Maverick players in
Ashley Bennett, Qiana Canete and Stacey Koch who each registered nine kills in the match. Koch and Bennett also made their presence known at the net as they recorded five and four blocks respectively. Canete made her mark defensively as the freshman OH recorded eight digs and two blocks in the match.
With the Mavericks out blocking the Eagles 14-5 in the match, Briana Sharratt led the way as the sophomore MB notched 10 blocks to go along with five kills in the match.
Amanda Welsh and Cassidy Wheeler divided up the setting duties as the duo combined to record 40 assists in the match.
Caitlyn Cooney led the team in digs as she registered 17 digs in the match.
“We just need to keep this same energy that we’ve had these past couple of matches,” Baptiste added. “We just have to keep playing our game and doing what we need to on our side of the court.”
Next up on the UT Arlington schedule is the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to be held in San Marcos, Texas on Nov. 27-29. The Mavericks are still in the running for the second, third and fourth seeds in the tournament.
