After wins against Louisiana-Monroe (3-1) and Louisiana-Lafayette (3-0) over the weekend, the UTA Mavericks volleyball team is 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2009, where they lost the next three en route to an 8-8 year.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't discouraged early on Friday. Monroe, as I pointed out last time, is not a good team. UTA dropped the first set 25-21, while being out hit .242 to .094. They cruised in the second set and, while not looking like a well-oiled machine, at least played solidly to stay in front by a few points the whole time and reversed the set one score, 25-21.
I almost gave in to despair when the teams returned from the locker room. After an early back and forth, Monroe turned an 11-11 score into a 17-11 Warhawk lead. Both teams began a point exchange and ULM still held a six point lead at 21-15.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
UTA Football Game Four
We enter the final season which qualifies for This Day in UTA Football. 1985 wasn't supposed to be remarkable one way or the other, other than the fact that UTA was coming off a season not coached by Harold "Bud" Elliot for the first time since 1974.
He had a remarkable run of mediocrity, going 5-6 three times in ten years and finishing 3rd in the six team SLC more than any other. To be fair, during the majority of his tenure, UTA was giving out 68 scholarships while the rest of the SLC was at 80 and the NCAA allowed 95. So the fact that he was middle of the pack may have showed he did more with less.
However, with the final two years he did operate with full scholarships and the Mavs went 3-8 in 1982, and 5-6 (2-4 in the SLC) in 1983. That final year was with a lot of talent and high expectations. His contract was not renewed.
Chuck Curtis took over the head job in 1984 and in his first year, won seven games, only the third winning season since moving to Division I in 1971. Gone was UTA's second all-time leading rusher Scotty Caldwell. Phil Blue was supposed to be the returning quarterback, but he elected to try his hand as a student coach. That allowed David Bates to become the starter for 1985. He was a BYU transfer, as was his wide receiver Keith Arbon and the two would hook up often.
He had a remarkable run of mediocrity, going 5-6 three times in ten years and finishing 3rd in the six team SLC more than any other. To be fair, during the majority of his tenure, UTA was giving out 68 scholarships while the rest of the SLC was at 80 and the NCAA allowed 95. So the fact that he was middle of the pack may have showed he did more with less.
However, with the final two years he did operate with full scholarships and the Mavs went 3-8 in 1982, and 5-6 (2-4 in the SLC) in 1983. That final year was with a lot of talent and high expectations. His contract was not renewed.
Chuck Curtis took over the head job in 1984 and in his first year, won seven games, only the third winning season since moving to Division I in 1971. Gone was UTA's second all-time leading rusher Scotty Caldwell. Phil Blue was supposed to be the returning quarterback, but he elected to try his hand as a student coach. That allowed David Bates to become the starter for 1985. He was a BYU transfer, as was his wide receiver Keith Arbon and the two would hook up often.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Volleyball to Start Sun Belt Play
Over the weekend, the Mavericks, along with the rest of the Sun Belt Conference, completed their out-of-conference schedule. UTA is now 7-6 and I liked what I saw out of the team when they played their last tournament in Boone, North Carolina. They beat the Denver Pioneers and East Carolina Pirates and lost to the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
While the competition at the Black and Gold Challenge won't contend for any serious titles, it was roughly on par with what they have seen so far this season. And unlike previous matches, there weren't mental lapses that cost them sets. If that keeps up, the rest of the season will be a bit better than the prognosticators thought at the beginning.
They beat Denver in five sets. While they aren't the same team as last year, neither is UTA. The Pioneers swept the Mavericks last year when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The two sets they lost were by six each, and only the fifth set win was by more than three, but they battled and didn't make too many mistakes. Aside from the first set loss, the attack percentage was good, and maybe the most important, steady. There was no .060 in one set followed by a .400 the next. Consistency is what I have been waiting for and they got it here.
While the competition at the Black and Gold Challenge won't contend for any serious titles, it was roughly on par with what they have seen so far this season. And unlike previous matches, there weren't mental lapses that cost them sets. If that keeps up, the rest of the season will be a bit better than the prognosticators thought at the beginning.
They beat Denver in five sets. While they aren't the same team as last year, neither is UTA. The Pioneers swept the Mavericks last year when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The two sets they lost were by six each, and only the fifth set win was by more than three, but they battled and didn't make too many mistakes. Aside from the first set loss, the attack percentage was good, and maybe the most important, steady. There was no .060 in one set followed by a .400 the next. Consistency is what I have been waiting for and they got it here.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
UTA Football Game Three
The third installment of This Day in UTA Football Series takes us to 1963 season. Arlington State College moved up to the four-year ranks in time for the 1959 season. Their first three seasons saw winning records, but the 1962 campaign finished 4-6.
Quarterback Doug Wilson was returning, who led the Rebels in passing, rushing and total yards the previous season. But otherwise, the team was rebuilding.
For the opening, ASC would face the West Texas State Buffaloes. They were a University Division opponent, today's equivalent of FBS. UTA, meanwhile was a College Division, which the closest equivalent is Division II. The previous year, the Buffs destroyed ASC 49-0.
Quarterback Doug Wilson was returning, who led the Rebels in passing, rushing and total yards the previous season. But otherwise, the team was rebuilding.
For the opening, ASC would face the West Texas State Buffaloes. They were a University Division opponent, today's equivalent of FBS. UTA, meanwhile was a College Division, which the closest equivalent is Division II. The previous year, the Buffs destroyed ASC 49-0.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Cross Country Starting Well
I won't often post about our cross country squad. They compete quite well, but it just really isn't much of a talking sport. There aren't questionable coaching maneuvers, depth issues, starting vs. bench players or other similar situations a listener to talk radio would hear. While the team can work together, similar to bicycle rallies like the Tour de France, that is generally info privy to the team and coaches. And since I mentioned I won't just report results, it will leave them off this blog more often than most other team sports.
Today is the exception as the first meet of the year can give you a lot of info you may not have had before. While the courses change, results don't differ terribly much during the season. Sometimes some runners will run and while others will sit as the coach tries to determine who the best runners are or get some runners so merace time. Sometimes there are injuries that change the lineup of a team. But, the first of the season can provide a preview of the rest of the year.
I will say it a lot in future posts, but this will be the first time. In team sports, the transitive property can never be used to determine results. UTA beat Utah State in basketball last year. Utah State beat New Mexico State. Therefore UTA should have won the WAC tournament title when they faced NMSU. We lost.
Today is the exception as the first meet of the year can give you a lot of info you may not have had before. While the courses change, results don't differ terribly much during the season. Sometimes some runners will run and while others will sit as the coach tries to determine who the best runners are or get some runners so merace time. Sometimes there are injuries that change the lineup of a team. But, the first of the season can provide a preview of the rest of the year.
I will say it a lot in future posts, but this will be the first time. In team sports, the transitive property can never be used to determine results. UTA beat Utah State in basketball last year. Utah State beat New Mexico State. Therefore UTA should have won the WAC tournament title when they faced NMSU. We lost.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Volleyball Struggles Continue
The second UTA-hosted tournament, this one the Hilton Maverick Classic, is completed and in the books. Like the last tournament in Waco, it ends the same, UTA wins one and loses two. The win was a against a SWAC team, one of, if not the worst volleyball conferences in Division I where there is little seperation between the teams.
Its the two losses and how they happened that are a little hard to take.
UTSA is expected to be a contender for the Conference USA championship. They received first place votes in the preseason poll. Losing to them, (25-16, 25-23, 25-25, 25-20) a really good team, not elite, but solid, isn't that bad. UTA won a set versus the 'Runners. But here's my problem, and its one I keep going back to when talking Mav volleyball results: There are too many mental lapses, mistakes that a seasoned team shouldn't make. Sometimes a good opponent can make you make mistakes. However, all the losses and some sets in wins have had the same trend.
Its the two losses and how they happened that are a little hard to take.
UTSA is expected to be a contender for the Conference USA championship. They received first place votes in the preseason poll. Losing to them, (25-16, 25-23, 25-25, 25-20) a really good team, not elite, but solid, isn't that bad. UTA won a set versus the 'Runners. But here's my problem, and its one I keep going back to when talking Mav volleyball results: There are too many mental lapses, mistakes that a seasoned team shouldn't make. Sometimes a good opponent can make you make mistakes. However, all the losses and some sets in wins have had the same trend.
UTA Football Game Two
The second game of my This Day in UTA Football Series is the season opener of the 1968 season. UTA was fresh of their first, and currently only, bowl appearance and win, a 13-0 win over North Dakota State. Expectations were high for 1968, where many of the notable names of a high-powered offense were returning. The quarterback position saw Senior Mike Baylor return. He threw for 1,384 yards in 1967, which is still currently 5th in one season for the Mavericks. Baylor is considered UTA's most successful all-time quarterback. I put an asterisk here because I am certain that David Bates senior year in 1986 would have passed him. As it was, 1985 was still a record setting year for Bates in his own right, but sadly it was only a one-hit wonder. Baylor was the reigning Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year and also an Honorable Mention All-American.
Wide receiver Jimmy Thomas and end Dick Hill returned and they were the two biggest recipients of Baylor's passing. Both caught 35 passes in '67, currently ranked fourth on the single-season charts. Thomas had big play capabilities, as his 35 catches resulted in 721 yards. Like Baylor, he was an HM All-American in '67.
Fullback Danny Griffin could run or catch. He would retire as UTA's all-time leading rusher, and is still third all-time. He was also a first-team all-SLC selection.
Wide receiver Jimmy Thomas and end Dick Hill returned and they were the two biggest recipients of Baylor's passing. Both caught 35 passes in '67, currently ranked fourth on the single-season charts. Thomas had big play capabilities, as his 35 catches resulted in 721 yards. Like Baylor, he was an HM All-American in '67.
Fullback Danny Griffin could run or catch. He would retire as UTA's all-time leading rusher, and is still third all-time. He was also a first-team all-SLC selection.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)