Streak Unbroken

The UT Arlington volleyball squad completed the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Springfield, Missouri yesterday and like the previous two tournaments, they took the tourney title, winning all three matches. Like the previous tournament in Arlington, UTA won two by sweeps and a thrilling third match in five sets.

The weekend tournament started on Thursday with the host in Missouri State. In the three-game sweep, the Mavericks won the first two sets by identical 25-19 scores. The third set was tighter and tested UTA, but again, the Mavs came out on top 25-23. 

Brianna Ford, the Graduate Senior Outside Hitter led the Mavericks in kills with 13, digs with 16, Graduate Student Setter Mollie Blank had an efficient 38 assists and Paige Reagor, another Graduate Student at Middle Blocker had three blocks. Impressively to me, the team had a 40.6 hitting percentage in the first set. It fell to a more median .279 for the match, but that was a great way to start the weekend.

On Friday, Saint Louis was on tap for the middle match. At 3-3 entering the day, SLU was kind of an unknown. UTA still handled business in the sweep, the seventh of the year. The match certainly was competitive to start. After UTA built a 17-13 lead, Saint Louis went on a 6-2 and an 8-3 run to take a one-point lead. The Billikens had set point at 24-23, but the Mavs reeled off three straight points for a 26-24 win. After that, UTA left no doubt winning the last two sets by identical 25-12 scores. 

Freshman Outside Hitter Sjakkie Donkers (great last name for a VB OH) had two of the last three kills in set one, but Ford again led her team in kills with 12, blocks with four, Samantha Glenn, a Sophomore listed at Outside Hitter on the roster, but playing the Libero position, led in digs with 14 and Blank had 31 assists.

Saturday morning had the biggest test in 2024 for the Mavs as the tournament capped with a matchup against Weber State. The Wildcats tend to have a competitive squad year in and out with 2024 as no exception. Having won their first two matches of the Missouri State-hosted tournament, Saturday's outcome was for the title. 

Like they did in the only other non-sweep of the year, UTA lost the first set, a close 22-25 score. UTA trailed early in the set and the teams just were trading points the rest of the way. Set two was similar, but in UTA's favor at 25-20. The runs were in different spots in set three, but the formula was the same as UTA gave up 21 in the set win. Facing a match loss, Weber St. took control after UTA closed a deficit to two a little past halfway in the set to take a 25-20 win and force a deciding fifth set.

Deserving of its own paragraph, the fifth was a gritty win and shows what an experienced team brings to the table. The Wildcats took an early 4-2 lead. The teams traded points until a Reagor kill and Wildcat error knotted it at six. After the Wildcats used a UTA error to briefly regain the lead, kills by Reagor and Donkers were sandwiched around an ace by Graduate Senior Outside Hitter Cansu Gunaydin for a two-point lead. The teams then traded points before Weber State used a 4-1 run to tie it, then take a one-point lead, 12-13. After a UTA timeout, Ford recorded the last three kills to seal the match, 15-13. 

Ford set a career high in digs with 26. Blank had a career high 61 assists. She also led the team with 17 digs. Junior Middle Blocker Ava Burroughs recorded six blocks for the team lead. 

UTA outhit and had 11 more digs than their Utah-based foe. Something UTA hasn't seen much was the Wildcat net minding led to a plus ten in blocks over the Mavs. Also, something that hasn't been said much this year, UTA errors assisted Weber State. The Mavs had 28 attack errors and 14 service errors compared to the Wildcats 19 and nine, respectively. 

Unlike the prior two tournaments, the competition was stiffer this go around. Missouri State was predicted to finish in a tie for sixth in the 12-team Missouri Valley Conference, a fairly stout volleyball conference. They are 5-5 on the year after this weekend. Saint Louis was predicted fifth in the ten-team Atlantic 10 Conference. They are now 4-5 on the year after a 1-2 weekend. Weber State is the preseason fav in the 10-team Big Sky Conference. They've played a tough non-conference schedule and are 3-5, including a four-set win over Western Athletic Conference's Utah Tech.

Despite the errors, UTA is finding ways to get on top. Most of the time, they are cruising. It's been two decades since I've seen a UT Arlington volleyball team just come out and take care of business on such a consistent basis. 

That will be tested this upcoming week in the Horned Frog Invitational. TCU comes in ranked at 25th in the nation. They'll play early in the week on Tuesday, likely making scheduling easier for the remainder of the tourney. Rice is on deck Friday and the Owls are the preseason favorites in the American Athletic Conference. Saturday, UTA squares off against one-time WAC rival Denver, who is projected to be the runners-up in the Summitt League. It will be a stiff test for the last tournament prior to WAC play starting.

The match at TCU is set for a 6:30 pm start time. It will be a good test to see exactly where the Mavericks stand. They've played very well and I haven't felt the kind of excitement in a while. I'm really keen to see where they fall against the Frogs and get a better idea what conference play will bring.