Sept. 10, 2009

UT Arlington Invitational Match Notes

UT Arlington Invitational Tournament Central

ARLINGTON, Texas -

FIRST SERVE
UT Arlington opens its 2009 home schedule hosting the UT Arlington Invitational against UALR (4-2) and Oklahoma (5-2) on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Texas Hall. Saturday also marks the start of a seven-match homestand for the Mavericks. Following this weekend the Mavs will host the UT Arlington Hilton Invitational on Sept. 18-19, taking on Arkansas State (9/18), Texas Southern (9/19) and TCU (9/19). UT Arlington will then open Southland Conference action at Texas Hall against UTSA (9/24) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (9/26).

INSIDE THE SERIES
Saturday marks the Mavericks' 12th all-time match against UALR and the 39th all-time meeting against Oklahoma. UT Arlington holds a 7-4 advantage against the Trojans with a 5-4 lead in matches played in Arlington. Last season UALR knocked off the Mavericks in the UT Arlington Holiday Inn Invitational. The Mavs have won five of the last seven matchups against UALR dating back to 2001. UT Arlington is 26-12 all-time against Oklahoma, with a 13-4 all-time home record against the Sooners. UT Arlington has played only two matches against Oklahoma since 2001 (1-1) with the majority of the all-time meetings coming between 1980-89. The Mavericks have won 10 of the last 17 meetings dating back to 1984.

TAKING A LOOK BACK
UT Arlington went 1-2 last weekend with a three-set sweep over Georgia Southern in its first match of the weekend, and then lost consecutive three-set matches to Colorado State and Ohio State. The Mavericks captured their lone victory in the Colorado State Hilton Classic in come-from behind fashion after trailing 15-8 in the first set and 20-11 in the second set against Georgia Southern. The Mavericks dominated at the net (11 total blocks) and had three players tally at least six kills each with Bianca Sauls leading the way with eight. Junior setter Raegan Daniel picked up her first career all-tournament team selection as she averaged 5.1 assists, 2.0 digs and 1.7 kills per set in three tournament matches.

OPENING AT HOME LATE INTO THE SEASON
The 2009 edition of UT Arlington volleyball will finally learn what it is like to play at Texas Hall after playing its first seven matches of the season away from Arlington. The last time UT Arlington had played more matches to start the season away from home was in 2002, when UT Arlington opened the year with nine matches on the road or a neutral court. The Mavericks started the 2002 season 5-4 in tournaments at Louisville, Baylor and Colorado.

Raegan Daniel NAMED TO FIRST CAREER ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Junior setter Raegan Daniel was the only player not from Colorado State or Ohio State named to the Colorado State Hilton Classic All-Tournament team. Daniel, the lone setter on the all-tourney list, led the Mavericks with a .389 hitting percentage (15 kills - 1 error - 36 attacks) and with 46 assists. Daniel is currently fifth in the SLC in hitting percentage (.273).

MOVIN ON UP
Raegan Daniel moved up to eighth on the UT Arlington all-time career assists list after recording 46 assists in three matches last weekend. Daniel, in just her second full season as the Mavs' starting setter, now has 1,100 career assists, moving past Dawn Foley, who recorded 1,099 assists in just one season (1995) with the Mavericks. Daniel now needs 464 assists to move into a tie for seventh on the career list with former Mav Heidi Christensen (1,564 - 1993-94).

1-2-3 SETS YOUR OUT!
UT Arlington has played seven matches this season and only once have they played more than three sets. The Mavericks have dropped four, three-set matches and have recorded both wins in three-set sweeps.

CAN YOU DIG IT?
UT Arlington averaged 12.7 digs per set (114 total digs) in three matches at the Colorado State Hilton Classic. UT Arlington recorded 43 digs (14.3 dps) in its final match last weekend against Ohio State, which included 24 digs in the second set against the Buckeyes. In the second set, UT Arlington was led by Alicia Shaffer and Raegan Daniel, who each had six digs. Eld-hah Kaswatuka chipped in four, Bianca Sauls added three and Christy Driscoll added multiple digs with two. Shaffer led UT Arlington in the match with 11.

UT ARLINGTON VS. BIG 12 OPPONENTS
The Mavericks take on the one Big 12 opponent on their schedule this season as Oklahoma enters Texas Hall this weekend. The Mavericks are 126-94-1 all-time against Big 12 opponents. Last season the Mavs fell in four sets to Texas Tech at the Mean Green Classic in Denton. The Mavericks last win over a Big 12 opponent came in Diane Seymour's first career match as head coach. UT Arlington gave Seymour her first career win with a 23-30, 31-29, 23-30, 30-28, 17-15 victory at Texas Hall on Sept. 1, 2004.

HOME SWEET HOME
UT Arlington enters the 2009 season with a 325-123 (.725) all-time record on its home court at Texas Hall.

MAVERICKS IN HOME OPENERS
UT Arlington is 18-8 all-time in home openers. The Mavericks lost in five sets last season in their first home match against TCU, who entered the match 6-0. In 2007, UT Arlington knocked off Louisiana Tech 30-26, 30-25, 21-30, 30-15 in its home opener. The past three seasons the Mavericks opened their home schedule in a midweek match, this season the Mavs will open their home slate while hosting a home tournament. The last time UT Arlington opened its home schedule while hosting a tourney was in 2005 while taking on Iowa in the UTA Hilton Invitational. The Mavs dropped a heart-breaker to the Hawkeyes with a 33-35, 30-25, 21-30, 27-30 loss. UT Arlington went 1-2 in the tournament with a win against UT-Pan American.