As July transitions into August, the end of the collegiate summer doldrums is in sight. Volleyball opens the 2025/26 athletic season at the end of the month. While many schools have been analyzing the offseason moves of their respective football team or pontificating on whether a new coach was the right hire, we UT Arlington Maverick fans are gauging if UTA can repeat as WAC champs on the volleyball court or looking for pieces to the basketball schedules.
As fall is still a lonely time for Mavs, that doesn't diminish the anticipation some have for the upcoming year. With that constraint, let's look back at past year and see the top five moments from 2024/25.
There will be some guidelines I will impose on the list. First, no team can have more than one moment. Without that constraint, it is probable that one team could own multiple spots and the list would rapidly lose balance. Second, this list will be constrained to athletic feats or milestones. For example, as excited as I am about women's flag football coming next season or as newsworthy as the Western Athletic Conference transforming to the United Athletic Conference was, they will be excluded from this list. Third, it doesn't have to be performance or scoreboard based, just has to revolve around a program at UTA.
With that framework set, let's start the countdown.
FIVE The softball team as a whole had a disappointing end to the season, losing 14 of their last 18 to finish one game under .500, their sixth straight losing season. However, there were bright spots. The last win prior to that losing streak listed above was a 6-2 win over Baylor in Waco. The Mavs won three straight WAC series' to open conference play, including beating the eventual second-place team on the road. But to me, the fifth best moment of the athletic year occurred on April 1st. Allan Saxe Field set an attendance record when 1,288 fans saw UTA host the Oklahoma Sooners. Now I don't make any bones that the record has anything to do with anything else but the opponent, the perennial national champs. An eventual 13-2 loss.
But to me, that is an example of what is wrong with other sports. Especially in basketball, Power 4 conference teams don't travel outside of conference play. This was a great example of why they should, in every sport. Sooner fans in DFW got to see their team, the sport of softball grabbed a spotlight for a moment and UTA was able to draw into four figures for the first time in program history. In doing so, they earned the fifth best moment of the athletic year.
FOUR This won't be the last time this opponent will appear in this ranking, but it will be the only time it is the sole reason for an appearance on this list. The baseball team had a rough year on the surface. At 21-33, the record shows a losing season. What gets lost is how many of those losses were close and how difficult the schedule was. The Mavs were one bat and one arm away from a really good season. They won the season series against UT San Antonio, who won a regional in Austin in the NCAA Tournament. They won the series against Little Rock, who took the eventual national champs to a deciding game in the Baton Rouge Regional. They defeated TCU, who made the tourney while sweeping Utah Valley in the regular season. The eventual WAC tourney champs would beat their Regional host.
UTA limped into the WAC touney having lost their last two WAC series' against the only two teams that would eventually finish below them in the standings. UTA did win two games in the WAC championships. The first was against Tarleton State, always a good win regardless of the sport. The second was against Grand Canyon, perhaps the most universally despised school by everyone else in the WAC. With a 9-7 win, on May 22nd, UTA ended both the season of the 'lopes as well as their time in the WAC as a whole. After making the NCAA tourney the previous year on a technicality (Tarleton won and was ineligible as they were finishing their transition to Division I from II), UTA slammed to door for good this year, earning its spot at number four on this list.
THREE To say the men's basketball team has drawn some lean years since the inauspicious firing of coach Scott Cross would be an understatement. UTA seemed on an upward trend as they transitioned from the Southland Conference to the WAC and then to the Sun Belt Conference. The program had six winning seasons in seven tries. The lone losing season was a 15-17 competitive team. They compiled a 146-88 record in that span. Four of the seven seasons were 20-win campaigns. After the firing, UTA has had a 99-118 record and only two winning seasons. As such, attendance, which once had the same trajectory as the Maverick's on court performance, suffered. Unlike every other team sport, men's basketball saw only one game and no season average coached after Cross' firing in the top ten of its respective category.
That changed on February 22nd. The Tarleton State Texans came to College Park Center. There was a lot at stake. UTA lost the previous game earlier that year and both regular season games the prior season. The Mavs did get the advantage in postseason play when guard Brandyn Talbot nailed an ice-cold three to end the game. The game was also televised, giving CPC another national audience. And both teams were struggling going in looking to rebound and gain momentum heading into March.
5,183 fans filled CPC, the largest crowd since the NIT run in 2017 and largest regular season crowd since a December 2015 game against North Texas. After a slow start, UTA turned a steady performance for a ten-point win, 67-57. The fan count helped give UTA a per-game average of 1,883, good for the ninth most attended season in program history. The 5,183 is the seventh highest attended home game, which was the major factor in this being the third-best spotlight on the athletic year.
TWO At 18-14, the women's basketball team had its share of ups and downs. There was a 9-1 start to open WAC play, then a five-game skid afterwards. The Mavs avenged one of those losses against California Baptist to end the season, then beat the same team to start the WAC tournament. UTA was then able to win the season series against Tarleton State to advance to their first WAC tourney championship game. In an unfortunate final few minutes, UTA lost to Grand Canyon in the title game, 65-62.
UTA was able to extend their season by getting their fifth WNIT berth. By fortune of the bracket, the Mavericks hosted in the first round. On March 20, the Incarnate Cardinals came to College Park Center and UTA dominated from start to finish in a 78-52 win. As a bonus, the third-largest crowd of the season saw the win. Many times in most sports, postseason games, especially non-NCAA tournaments, don't draw the fans at rates similar to what the regular season did.
It was also the second postseason win in program history following a win in the same venue against Stephen F. Austin in the 2019 WNIT. As such it finds itself in the bridesmaid position in the top five moments of 2024.25 athletic season.
-Before we get to the top spot, here are some honorable mentions in chronological order:
- Junior Alex Klamar earned the Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete at the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. He finished first in two events and second in a third event.
- The women's tennis team made it to the WAC finals after falling in the semi's in the previous two seasons.
- The women's outdoor track team finished second in the outdoor championships, hosted by UTA. It was the highest conference finish since UTA's first WAC meet. They also finished second that year at Maverick Stadium.
-ONE I don't think there was a doubt about who would take home the title on this list. Unironically, it was a team that took home a title. UTA's most successful, nationally competitive program historically is the volleyball team. With a Final Four appearance, eight NCAA Tournament appearances, eight appearances in the precursor to the NCAA, a combined seven wins in the NCAA's and 25 wins in the AIAW National Tournament, the Mavs pedigree was established prior to the turn of the century.
Heading into the athletic year, UTA's volleyball team was last in the postseason in 2002. It marked the longest drought of any team sport in the entire Athletic Department. Coming into the year, it was thought to be a two-horse race in the WAC between the good guys and the online diploma mill private school in Gand Canyon. Despite getting more first place votes, GCU somehow was one-point ahead in the preseason poll and were therefore the favorites.
UTA's dominance was seen early winning their first three tournaments prior to conference play. UTA swept the WAC, going 16-0, including a 3-1 win in Arizona against the favorites and a sweep in Arlington. Only California Baptist and Utah Valley on the road took UTA to five sets in the regular season. Nine of the 16 WAC wins were in sweeps.
The conference tournament was a little tighter. After a sweep of Abilene Christian, CBU took UTA to five. The Mavs trailed after three sets but won the fourth 27-25 and the fifth 15-10 to advance to the finals.
The top two teams in the preseason poll and the regular season squared off as UTA and GCU met for the third time on November 23rd, the Mavs followed the same formula as they did against CBU to win their first conference tournament since 2002.
The Mavs posted a great video on YouTube about the match. I did my own write up here. Undoubtedly, breaking a 23-year postseason drought earns the top spot of the 2024/25 best moments at UTA.
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