Keep Rolling

 I'm going to shake up how I cover the UT Arlington volleyball squad this week. The last few weeks I have covered it set by set however, it feels long and congested to me. Proofreading it sometimes feels like a slog, so I'm not sure what it feels like to the average reader. I'll let you judge how it flows and tell me in the comments which you prefer, or if it matters.

This past week was like most of the rest of the 2024 season. There wasn't much that was left in doubt. So far, the Western Athletic Conference race isn't shaping up as predicted but that's a common occurrence.

Southern Utah, predicted eighth in the nine-team WAC, visited College Park Center for an early season test for number one. The Thunderbirds defeated Abilene Christian and Tarleton State in week one. ACU (6) and Tarleton (5) were predicted middle of the pack, so while they weren't world beating wins, SUU was hitting above their projections. 

Despite a third set hiccup, the Mavericks won handily in four, 25-13, 25-14, 19-25, 25-14. There was no real sweat in either set save the third. The Mavs took control early and kept it handily. In three set wins, if your opponent didn't surpass 14, that is a blowout.

Unless otherwise noted, all players are a Graduate student. Outside Hitter Briana Ford is making a case early for conference player of the year as she again led the team in kills with 19 and digs with 14. Sette Mollie Blank was dishing dimes (is a volleyball assist like a basketball assist?) with 45 assists. A quality setter cannot be understated as she makes everyone else better. Middle Blocker Paige Reagor led the way with seven blocks. Outside Hitter Cansu Gunaydin had three aces.

The Mavs moved to 3-0, joining only Utah Tech as unbeaten in the WAC. Next up for UTA was a Saturday match against Tarleton State, who has been struggling more than anticipated this year. 

Similar to Southern Utah, there was little doubt, and the Mavs beat the Texans in a sweep. The scores were closer at 25-19, 25-15, 25-20. They trailed minimally early in the first two sets before going on runs. The Mavs never trailed in the third set, ironically since it was the closest.

There were good crowds for both matches, but the Tarleton Saturday had 1,135 on hand. That mark is the thirteenth largest crowd in history and ninth largest in CPC history. Coupled with the 1.635 earlier in the year, the fourth largest and second largest CPC crowd, this season so far is the best attended season on average and 54 fans short of averaging four figures for the first time.

At 16 matches into the season, the WAC leaderboards belong to the Mavs. Reagor leads the conference in hitting percentage at an amazing .435 while Ford is second with a .333 mark. When it comes to kills, Ford leads the WAC with total kills at 250 and per set 4.55. Blank leads in total assists at 592 and per set at 10.57. Reagor is third in blocks per set at 1.30 and total blocks at 73. Sophomore Libero Samantha Glenn is fifth in digs among WAC competitors with 211 (second place has 215) and fourth in digs per set with 370. Ford rounds out the top ten 152 digs equaling 2.76 per set.

The NCAA released the RPI rankings on Monday and as I expected, the Mavs were a top 100 team but not top 50. The wins propelled them on but did not have a marquee one in the group. That said, it is the best RPI UTA has achieved in recent memory. The 75 out of 346 teams in Division one certainly leads the WAC. Grand Canyon, who had some hits thanks to a Parrott Tatum injury is 138th. Tatum is back and will come to CPC in a week and a half, with major ramifications in the conference title race.

This week, the Mavs stay in Arlington with Seattle University on Thursday. The Redhawks, as expected, are having a lackluster year at 3-11 on the year and 1-3 in WAC play On Saturday, Abilene Christian rolls down Interstate 20 with their 7-8 record and conference mark of 2-2. Thursday's match starts at 6 pm while Saturday's is a 1 pm first serve.