In the Middle

It's been a bit since I mentioned the UT Arlington Maverick's volleyball's 2026 journey. It was after the first weekend of the year where they went 2-1 after the University of Arkansas' tournament. A lot of volleyball has been played since then.

UTA hosted the UTA Tournament, going 1-2 with a five-set win over Kent State and losses to Army in three sets and Sam Houston in five. UTA scored over 20 in all three sets to Army while the Mavericks were up 2-1 against the Bearkats but lost by ten in set four and four in set five.

Then, they moved to the Texas Challenge in Nacogdoches, Texas. In the opening match of a tournament, UTA went 3-0 with a four-set win against North Texas. The Mean Green are 8-5 currently with a 1-1 conference mark. It was a quality win in a field of quality teams.

The momentum couldn't be carried on however as Texas State won in five and the hosts Stephen F. Austin swept the Mavs. With those scores, you'd think SFA ran away with it, but Texas State beat the Ladyjacks while UNT beat everyone but UTA. Overall, I really liked this tournament and haven't been this excited for a volleyball non-conference weekend in a long time.

The final non-conference tournament was in Louisiana at the Ragin' Cajuns Classic. There they picked up two wins to one loss to finish their non-conference record at a 6-6 mark. UTA opened with a sweep over Jackson State. In another encouraging sign, it was a five-set win over the hosts. It was the fifth time to that point they played a five-set match and it was the third win in that setting.

Like the opening weekend, UTA closed the final tourney against a lower-level Southeastern Conference team. Picked 13th out of 16, Mississippi State came in with only one loss to a very good Rice team. Like the Arkansas match, they competed, at least in the third set. While it was a sweep, it was one that I didn't think the Mavs were clearly outmatched. Considering they were without their full complement of players, more on that later, that was encouraging.

The second season, conference play, started on the road as UTA went to Stephenville to open up United Athletic Conference play. Tarleton State was picked third in the UAC preseason poll, compared to UTA's sixth place guesstimation.

The first set was rough from a UTA standpoint, a 15-25 setback in which the Texans scored the first seven points and never looked back. In the second, the scrip flipped past the one-third mark as UTA reeled off seven points in eight tries for a 14-12 lead. It stayed close until another spurt led to a 23-19 lead. TSU wouldn't go away and UTA notched it even at one with a 25-23 set two win.

Set three started like set one with Tarleton reeling off eight straight after UTA got the opening point and the final mark was 16-25. Set four reverted to the blow-for-blow style we saw in set two as UTA maintained a two-point lead mid-set. Tarleton took a brief lead and it was then knotted even at 20 on a TSU service error. But a 5-2 TSU run ended UTA's hope for a fifth set.

In the Arlington opener of UAC play, the West Georgia Sea Wolves met UTA on the Mavs home floor. The Mavs surprisingly won in five against the predicted last-place finishers in the conference. A five-set win is still a win, but with scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 24-26 and 15-11, things were way closer throughout than I anticipated. UWG was 4-8 going and still in a DI transition, meaning there's no NCAA Tournament berth in store, regardless of what happens in November.

During the Tarleton broadcast, the Texan announcer UTA's setter was out due to injury. I did not catch all of the UWG broadcast, but I heard Josh mention injuries in a plural sense. I'm not sure who, what or the extent, but it did look like the offense was a little less polished in the two UAC matches. 

Offensively, UTA is getting a balance from the roster. Senior outside hitter Evyn Snook is seventh amongst all UAC players in kills with 156 and eighth in kills per set at 2.84. Sophomore middle blocker Sophia Kirchev is third in hitting percentage at .349 and fifth in total points per set at 3.38. Freshman setter Lucy Tricco has 6.33 assists per set, good for fifth. 

On the defensive side, Kirchev is first in blocks and blocks per set with 62 total blocks and a 1.35 per set mark. That alone was a big missing piece that last year's team didn't have. Senior libero Samantha Glenn is sixth in digs with 232 and seventh in per set average 4.07. Glenn also surpassed the 1,000 career dig mark in the Sam Houston match. 

Tricco last played in the Louisiana match, missing the last three. Junior Isabella Camacho has been filling in at that position. Kirchev also has not played in the two UAC matches to this point. As mentioned, I don't know why, and if it's injury related, when they are slotted to be back.

Next match is Little Rock tomorrow at College Park Center, first serve is at 6 pm. After that, preseason favorite Eastern Kentucky visits CPC on Saturday with a 1 pm start time.