Big Showdown Looming

 Another Western Athletic Conference week is in the book for the UT Arlington volleyball squad and they repeated the same formula from the previous two conference weeks as they went undefeated, going 2-0.

It would have been easier to stumble in the third week of WAC play than in any other week due what's on tap this week. But as it is, other than some brief hiccups, the Mavericks did not drop a set in two sweeps. The wins moved their conference mark to 6-0 and 16-2 overall.

On Thursday, the Seattle Redhawks came to town and until SU went on a brief 4-0 run near the end of the third set, the Mavericks never took a timeout. That is pretty significant as coaches use timeouts to manage the runs by their opponents. Seattle made mild runs here and there and held brief, small leads. But the Mavs never looked stressed or out of control. By contrast, prior to the SU run / timeout in the third, UTA was leading 24-17 and Seattle looked demoralized. It has been a while since I have seen a Maverick opponent look like they were readily waving the white flag, but I did on Thursday.

The Mavs made it look easy without Graduate Student Outside Hitter Brianna Ford leading the offense, as she only logged 12 kills. She did earn 19 digs and three aces to lead the team there, but it was Freshman Outside Hitter Sjakkie Donkers who paced the team with 17. Graduate Student Setter Mollie Blank had 42 assists in only three sets. In a surprise to me, Graduate Student Middle Blocker Paige Reagor only had two blocks. Seattle did out block the Mavs 6-3. Was it a sign of a Redhawk offense that was out of sync, lowering UTA's block chances or rather a sign of a Mav weakness?

What I was happy with was a vocal student section that made their presence known. Hopefully they come back to CPC and bring some friends. The team has built momentum and I would be very enthused to see the students reflect that. When I was a student Greek Row made a presence at volleyball matches. It'd be great to see them return.

On Saturday, the team hit the road for the first time in four matches as Abilene Christian received the visitors. The Mavs weren't gracious guests as they treated the Wildcats similarly as they did the Redhawks in another sweep. While the scores were closer, the script was close to the same. 

The first set was the outlier as UTA raced to a 6-0 lead. ACU battled back and then engaged in a back-and-forth affair. UTA trailed 21-23, before scoring three straight for set point. ACU then scored two in a row for their own set point. They traded points until UTA got the last three and a 28-26 win. The wind left the sails of ACU, or UTA put on the gas, as the Mavs allowed 15 and 19 in the next two sets for the sweep. 

Ford tallied 17 kills and 12 digs, Reagor redeemed her performance with nine blocks while Blank didn't need as much and put up 31 assists. As a team, UTA out blocked ACU, 10-6.

Around the WAC, second-place Grand Canyon started the week in a three-way tie with Southern Utah and Utah Tech. Scheduling quirks being what they are, GCU played both teams and won each to lay claim to second place all by themselves. Both SUU and UT won their other match and are tied for third.

UTA will see GCU in a big Thursday match at College Park Center. If UTA wins they are in the driver's seat for their first conference title since a little after the turn of the century. A GCU win and the teams are square in a tie. After a humiliating loss in Phoenix, GCU certainly will be hungry. Additionally, preseason Player of the Year Tatum Parrot will be back from injury as she missed the first UTA match.

But Utah Tech is also on the horizon. There's a lot at stake there too. If I had to pick, I'd list UTA and the two opponents they play this week as the top three teams in the WAC. The Mavericks just happen to get both in the same week.

It would be easy to see why UTA might have overlooked Seattle, who is eighth of nine in the conference while ACU is a spot better, a tie with Utah Valley. But they swept the teams they should sweep and are set for a huge Thursday night battle. Mav fans can't ask for much more than that.