UTA Hosting some Championships

This week, the Western Athletic Conference announced the championship sites for the upcoming athletic year. While many are still the same, basketball will be in Vegas, baseball in Arizona, for example, there's a good slate of new sites throughout the year.

For the first time since the UT Arlington Athletic Department rejoined the WAC, Arlington (which has been the home city for the conference for over a year) will host multiple sports postseason dreams.

The last two years, the tennis tournament champions were crowned in Arlington. UTA's men's tennis team has taken advantage of the home-town hosting and made their way to the NCAA's. But tennis has been it. Until this upcoming year.

Here's the list of the of champion sites:

• Oct. 25-27, Fall Tennis, Abilene Christian University.
• Nov. 1, Cross Country, Utah Valley University.
• Nov. 3-9, Women's Soccer, ACU.
• Nov. 10-16, Men's Soccer, Grand Canyon University.
• Nov. 21-23, Volleyball, UTA at College Park Center.
• Feb. 26-March 1, Swimming and Diving, Houston, TX at the CRWC Natatorium.
• Feb. 28-March 1, Indoor Track and Field, Spokane, WA at The Podium.
• March 11, Basketball opening round, Utah Tech.
• March 12-15, Basketball, Las Vegas, NV at Orleans Arena.
• April 14-16, Women's Golf, off-campus, but GCU essentially.
• April 17-19, Tennis, UTA at the Arlington Tennis Center.
• April 25-27, Men's Golf, Golf Club at Chapparal Pines, Payton, AZ (roughly 100 miles from GCU).
• May 7-10, Softball, California Baptist.
• May 15-17, Outdoor Track and Field, UTA at Maverick Stadium.
• May 21-24, Baseball, GCU at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, AZ.

GCU is hosting, or by far the closest city, a total of four times. UTA is second with three. ACU has two. UVU, UT and CBU each have one. Three places are neutral sites, though I'd argue Las Vegas helps GCU quite a bit. CBU is roughly an hour closer to the Orleans Arena, but their traveling contingent is much smaller.

For only the second time in its 14-year history, College Park Center will host a conference postseason tournament. The 2016 SBC volleyball championship crowned Coastal Carolina as the Sun Belt champs occurred at the CPC. Both basketball teams have played on-campus tourney games at home, but none were part of a larger tournament at the same site. 

Maverick Stadium, on the other hand, has a rich history of conference title meets. In the Southland Conference, the Mav saw seven total conference championship meets. In 2013, it hosted the WAC meet so it won't even be the first one in UTA's current conference home. As for the Sun Belt, the Mav hosted only one SBC title meet in 2017, the last title meet in the books at Davis and Mitchell Streets. The eight years between hosting the conference championships is the second-longest stretch between conference title meets. In the SLC, the Mav was the championship site in 1992 with its next in 2001.

The 2016 volleyball squad played in divisional play, but their record would have been a fourth-place finish. UTA lost to Arkansas State in the semis. The Red Wolves then lost to Coastal, who went 1-1 in the NCAA tournament. 

This year, the team returns quite a bit from last year's squad. Additionally, two of the three teams ahead of the Mavs in last year's standings are no longer in the WAC. Hosting at CPC may be what the Mavericks need to break the longest NCAA tournament drought in program history, now at 21 years. They return ten players, and the loss of Libero Alli Wells is the only large hole that needs to be filled (though she does return as a coach). There are five graduate students on the roster, so experience is not at a loss. Hosting may be that last little piece. 

Either way, after a decade in the Sun Belt that saw sparse championships on or near campus, it is nice that UTA has landed three events this year. It has boosted the tennis teams in the last two years and raises the profile of the Athletic Department. However small, it is still a boost.