The Last WAC Tournament

As soon as the first game of the previous series for the UT Arlington baseball team was in the books, I immediately thought of my last post. I was talking about how well their chances were to go as high as fourth or even third in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference tournament. 

Their chances were high because they were facing a team who had not won a conference series entering the sixth and final one of the season. The Utah Valley Wolverines had been swept three times. UTA's pitching was clearly superior while the offenses were a bit more even with a slight nod to UVU. Pitching usually wins out in these scenarios.

But the one part of the post stood out Thursday and especially after Friday's loss, giving Utah Valley the series win, their first of the year.

In more good news, UTA faces one remaining team in the WAC race, the last place team. Utah Valley, at 2-13 has been swept three times in five WAC series' and has not won a single series to this point. Now the cycnist in me will say this will be the time because their opponent is the Mavs. We Mav fans have seen heartbreak way too often to ever be comfortable. 

The rest of the WAC outcomes didn't favor UTA and as a result, the Mavericks fell to sixth in the standings. Utah Tech swept Abilene Christian, vaulting the Trailblazers to third. That put ACU in a tie for fifth with UTA, but the Wildcats won the series against the Mavs, giving ACU the higher seed. Sacramento State won their series against the regular-season champions in Tarleton State, giving them the fourth seed.

Crunch Time

The 2026 sprint of a baseball season, at least on the conference level, is entering it's last weekend and the UT Arlington squad is in a good position. Not great mind you, and certainly not at historic levels we've seen over this decades, but given the recent history after COVID cancelled the 2020 season, the prospects look promising.

Much of the last post about baseball still ring true: the pitching is above average, the offense is struggling, there have been close wins and large losses. But I'll cut to the chase. At 7-8 in the Western Athletic Conference, UTA has clinched a spot in the WAC tournament, the field is set, the seeding is not and the Mavericks sit in a tie for fifth with Utah Tech, but are a game out of third as Abilene Christian and Sacramento State are tied at 8-7.

The good news, UTA just won their series against the Trailblazers 2-1 and have not been swept by any team in the conference. Bad news, the 9-8, 10-inning loss to Abilene Christian on April 25th cost them that series while a 2-1 loss on day one of the previous series against the Hornets cost UTA that WAC three-game set. To really hammer that point, after winning the opening series against the WAC leaders in Tarleton State, who have clinched a tie for the regular season trophy with three games remaining, UTA dropped a 6-4 decision to second place California Baptist that lost them that series. A slightly more potent offense and UTA has an outside shot at a regular season title at this point in the season. 

Softball's Changeover

The regular season has concluded for the UT Arlington softball team and for the first time in six years, UTA will have a winning record. At 24-21, regardless of the results in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference tournament, the Mavericks are guaranteed to have more wins than losses. A late 3-8 stretch last year put the UTA one game below .500.

This year came on the strength of a 12-6 conference mark. With a .667 winning percentage, that is the best conference mark since the COVID year's 2-1 mark. The last in a full season was a 20-10 mark in 2011 during the Southland Conference era. In the Sun Belt, there weren't many winning conference seasons, but 2019's 17-10 mark was the high-water mark. It's the first winning WAC season in five tries, including the lone year in 2013.

The results came on the backs of a relentless offense. UTA hit 59 home runs this year, a program best. In the WAC, second-place Tarleton State hit 42 for comparison. What's impressive, is UTA's 45 games played is last in the WAC. The range is a high of 55 by TSU and California Baptist (the top two teams in the WAC standings) to a low of 47 by sixth-place Southern Utah. Keep that in mind for the following stats.

In addition to being first in home runs, UTA sits second in runs with 304, second in RBI with 268, second in slugging percentage at .519, third in hit by pitches at 35 and third in on base percentage at .390. Had they played the same number of games as TSU and CBU, many of those stat categories see UTA at the top. Also note, these numbers were gathered with one game left for every other team in the conference and are subject to change.

With such a dominant performance, of course there will be some players atop the conference.

The Basketball Race is now a Soap Opera

It was a big week last week (as it seems every week is) in the race for the Western Athletic Conference men's basketball regular season title. UT Arlington split the week with a dominant win against Southern Utah and an overtime loss to California Baptist, both at home. That loss did not give separation in the standings. Then this week, news broke that could have a huge impact on the race.

First, the Mavericks hosted the Thunderbirds last Thursday. UTA never trailed in the game as they throttled SUU. The lead went as high as 25 a couple of times in the second half as UTA won 80-61. UTA shot 43.3 percent from the field, 35.3 percent from three-point land while allowing a similar field goal percentage and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Senior forward Raysean Seamster led all scorers with 16 while freshman forward Amari Reed had nine rebounds to lead all players.

That set up a battle between 6-2 UTA and 5-3 California Baptist. Utah Valley was 6-3 entering the day meaning a UTA loss would put a three-way tie for first and a UTA win would put the Mavericks in sole possession of first by a full game.

Disappointing Conclusion

It was a rough end to the 2025 volleyball season for the UT Arlington Mavericks as the team dropped the last three matches of the schedule, losing on senior day to the Utah Valley Wolverines, 0-3, to the last-place Southern Utah Thunderbirds 1-3 and to the Utah Tech Trailblazers, 0-3.

To briefly recap, the Mavs scored 20 or more in each set loss to UVU. I was really impressed with the way they hung in there to the more imposing front line of UVU. They found ways to make their offense work, but were just overpowered in the end. 

They scored 21 and 20 in the first two sets against SUU, before claiming a 25-18 set three win. In the fourth, they only notched 19. That was the most disappointing loss of the three, and was the first all-time to the Thunderbirds. It almost appeared like they were looking ahead.

Against UT, it looked like the Trailblazers clearly remembered UTA won in Arlington (which cost them an outright conference title), as they allowed the Mavericks only 16, 18 and 19 in the three sets. It was less of what UTA did or didn't do, but more that UT was not going to let senior day slip away.

Gut Punch

It was another rough week this week for the UT Arlington volleyball squad, made even worse against in-state conference foes that once again resulted in a two-game losing week. The losses pretty much seal UTA's fate in the fifth position based on who is left on the schedule.

UTA hosted Tarleton State on Thursday and lost in five sets. Looking over the rosters, it made sense why Tarleton has had measurable success compared to last year, and their Division I stint as a whole. First-year head coach Jazmyne Johnson revamped the roster, though I was severely disappointed in her and the whole Texan team post-match, more on that in a moment.

The Texans have three returning players who have never enrolled anywhere else, one junior and two seniors. They have two freshmen on the roster. There are two transfers from the Junior College ranks who enrolled at TSU last year. There are ten, yes ten, players who were on a different campus last year within the NCAA, nine Division I players and one Division II. Even in the portal era, that is a high turnover for a volleyball roster.

2025/26 Starts

I was walking into work today and I realized I didn't do a preseason post to the upcoming men's and women's basketball teams. Truth is, no one has any clue how the season will shake up. I have seen pundits, insiders and other experts have wildly different polls. So I'll give the Western Athletic Conference's opinion only and basically leave it at that.

I have seen these knowledgeable people have UT Arlington as high as number one on the men's side and as low as number six out of seven possible teams. With such a high turnover in roster, it is essentially a rebuild every year for most teams. I don't know the impact that has on support. On the one hand, UTA fans knew the Mavericks were going to be really good in the mid teens. Fans showed up. On the other, if you don't know and the team is rough, do you still go to games early? I don't know. It's just an academic argument.

But as it is, for the men, the WAC coaches poll is as follows:

Streaking the Other Way

Two UT Arlington volleyball posts in a row will reference a win. Last week, the team defeated the Utah Tech Trailblazers. This week will also reference a win. That hasn't happened since September 19th's volleyball entry. It also comes at a time that it was desperately needed. One match before the halfway mark in Western Athletic Conference play, the Mavericks were in a tie for last place. Now, they are knocking on the door of third place.

It was another one-match week as the Mavericks hosted California Baptist. The Lancers defeated the Mavs in Riverside California more than a week prior and after UTA beat Utah Tech, the previously unbeaten conference leader, the CBU rematch was highly anticipated.

The first set left no doubt that the high UTA was riding was still in effect. The Mavs won the opener to the match by 11 points. There wasn't any large-scale run that contributed to the margin. Rather it was quite a bit of consistent, multi-points efforts that kept the lead growing at a steady pace. The Mavs hit a spectacular .522 compared to CBU's .16.

Not Officially in Last Place

Sports can be a crazy thing. Outside of middle school and even some high school settings, the old adage of anyone can be beaten on any given day rings true. Just when you think you have a team figured out, something wacky comes along and throws a wrench in the machine.

Coming into Saturday's volleyball matches the Western Athletic Conference had exactly one of its seven teams in the top 100 of the RPI in the NCAA. That was 5-0, 14-3 overall Utah Tech. Sitting in the mid-200's (out of 348 Division I programs) UT Arlington was headed south, losing four in a row and eight of the last nine. UT, on the other hand, was heading in the other direction, having won six in a row and nine of its last ten.

The only thing that appeared in the Mavericks favor, at least from a superficial standpoint, was the match was scheduled at home in College Park Center. However, UTA was 2-2 in CPC going into the match while the Trailblazers were an impressive 5-1 in true road matches to that point. It had the ingredients for a 3-0 loss in the recipe book.

Only it didn't happen that way.

Officially in Last

Two more matches resulted in two more losses for the UT Arlington volleyball squad this past weekend as the losing streak was extended to four in a row, all matches within the Western Athletic Conference. UTA needs one match to reach the halfway point of WAC play and UTA is tied for sixth, which is essentially last place at this point.

The Mavericks started the week against the preseason favorites. The Utah Valley road match, or maybe neutral match as their gym was unavailable, was going to be a tough test. BYU lent their gym and while UTA made spurts, it was clear the Wolverines were the better team. Watching the match, it was clear that UVU controlled the net. They were able to effect UTA's offensive game and rack up points on the defensive side of the net. The Wolverines logged 15 blocks. UTA recorded one.

As the set scores were 16-25, 24-26, 21-25, those 15 blocks were huge. Now, UVU is one of the best blockers in the country from a pure numbers standpoint. The digs disparity I mentioned last week was still present. UVU notched 52 to the Mavericks 47. This was a great example about how important a piece Paige Reagor was to the Mavericks the last couple of years.

The Slide Continues

I didn't post about the UT Arlington volleyball team last week because they played only one match against the worst team in the Western Athletic Conference. They swept Southern Utah, which I said in the most recent volleyball post that UTS needed to sweep SUU for the Mavericks to be in contention for a second WAC title. However, sets two and three were too close for a WAC contender. UTA held the Thunderbirds to 13 in the first set, but 20 and then 21 in the last two. 

Looking at the box score, offensively, UTA did very well. The top three UTA kill leaders would have led SUU. Same with assists, which is understandable as they go hand-in-hand with kills. Blocks were about even. UTA continued to excel in aces against their opponent. What stood out to me was digs. Junior libero Samantha Glenn has been doing well all season and recorded 21 in three sets. After her though, the team only grabbed 23. Glenn had almost as many as the rest of the team combined. Two Mavericks logged six digs, one kept four balls alive and no other Mav grabbed more than two.

That may be the biggest difference from last year. UTA could count on three to five ladies to keep the ball alive at any given time.

After the SUU win, the Mavs were 1-0 in conference play and had the two remaining Texas WAC schools left. And the bottom dropped out.

Conversation with an AD Part One - the UAC Rebrand

While I don't want the purpose of this blog to vary from its core, opinions and commentary on various aspects of the UT Arlington Mavericks Athletic Department, I have been contemplating in recent years how to do a little more, take it to the next level if you will. I attempted what follows last year, but obviously it didn't work, likely due to user error. I took a different approach, shook a few more hands and viola. 

On Friday afternoon, I had the genuine pleasure of a sit-down question and answer session "on the record" with the Athletic Director at UT Arlington, Jon Fagg. While I intended to make the interview a singular blog post, he allowed me to keep going. My thought process was if he offered 30 minutes, I was going to take 31. However, he let me go for over an hour and a half. As such, I really have to break it down into multiple parts. 

While I picked his brain about quite a bit of items, the drive home was filled with internal questions about things I should have followed up on more than I did, it was only natural. I did hit a lot of main points though. There is quite a bit of information in the conversation.

With that said, the Maverick Rambler presents its one-on-one with the AD.

Volleyball Preseason is Near the End

The Western Athletic Conference released the 2025 volleyball preseason poll and I have a suspicion that the UT Arlington Mavericks will feel a little disrespected. The defending champs were picked second by the conference's coaches.

The Utah Valley Wolverines were tagged as the preseason favorites, garnering five of the seven coaches first-place votes and a total of 34 points. UTA garnered one and the Utah Tech Trailblazers grabbed the final first-place vote. The Mavs edged the Blazers in total points, 29 to 25.

California Baptist was fourth (21), Abilene Christian (17), Tarleton State (12) and Southern Utah (9) round out the preseason poll.

Top Five 2024/25 Moments

 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.

UAC Find

Any time a university changes its conference affiliation, it creates headlines and is a hot topic. It creates conversations on a national scale where people who wouldn't mention a school are now discussing the changes. Some even try to present themselves as experts, though they knew little about the situation or school prior.

UTA, along with the remaining members of the Western Athletic Conference, certainly qualify as they and the members of the Atlantic Sun reorganized 15 schools into two conferences. The members of the two entities rarely garner much national attention so to hear all of these "experts" know the ins and outs of Tarleton State and Bellarmine make me chuckle.

However, I did find the following video on the WAC message board from the Big Mountain Podcast on the WAC being re-branded to the United Athletic Conference and the reorg with thew ASun. The Big Mountain guys tend to focus on all conferences in the western end of the U.S. and have more knowledge than the average folks.

A New Coat of Paint

There was big news from both a UT Arlington perspective and conference affiliation shuffling that came out this week. As has been the case for its entire history, the Western Athletic Conference will survive, despite the handwringing from the media and social media circles.

What was known prior to this week was Seattle University and Grand Canyon were out of the conference at the end of this month. Common belief among the remaining WAC members was good riddance to the second. That left seven schools, Abilene Christian, California Baptist, Southern Utah, Tarleton State, Utah Tech, Utah Valley along with UTA, for the upcoming athletic year. Seven is the minimum for an automatic berth into the men's basketball tournament.

California Baptist accepted an invitation from the Big West Conference several months ago and Utah Valley formally did the same last month. That would leave only five members for the 2026/27 athletic year. With limited options in the footprint, schools bailing for competitively weaker conferences and no Division II schools ready to move, people were predicting the WAC's demise.

End of Year

With the Western Athletic Conference Tournament over, UT Arlington baseball again getting eliminated and a sub.500 record, the year is over. With the exception of a few individuals in the track and field sports, that effectively means the 2024/25 athletic season is over.

I'll do a brief recap, later, but in the WAC tourney, the Mavericks over performed as a seven seed and went 2-2 in the field.

In the entry prior to the conference tournament, I pondered how hard it was for a team who swept another in the regular season to win a fourth game in the postseason. UTA took all three from Tarleton State, one by a run, another by two.

Somehow, the opening game was never close and it was UTA, who either wins big or loses close, who bombed the Tarleton State Texans 10-1. TSU had one of the better front-line pitchers in the WAC with Junior pitcher Brian Panneton. For whatever reason, he didn't start. The Mavs got four runs off the starter in the first inning and never looked back. UTA's Sophomore pitcher Caylon Dygert went six and a third innings pitched and gave up the one earned run. 

That was an important win as seeds five through eight play each with the loser's run in the tournament ending at one game. That set the stage for UTA taking on Utah Valley, the three seed. UTA swept the Wolverines in Arlington and going for a fourth win would be tough. 

Postseason Baseball

The UT Arlington Mavericks start the Western Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday. This may be one of the hardest conference tournaments that UTA has participated in to handicap as UTA can play with anyone but has proven they can lose to anyone as well.

I'll start with how they got there. Going into the last two conference series of the year, UTA was on track to really move up in the standings. They were facing the two teams at the bottom of the WAC in Utah Tech on the road and Seattle at home. Sadly, they lost both series, but didn't get swept. Had they won both series, but not swept, they'd be in a tie for third place and have a first round bye. Instead, they are in sole possession of seventh place.

Against Seattle, they lost by scores of 2-6 and 5-10. I've noted a few times this year that UTA specializes in losses of three runs or less. I haven't determined if I'd rather have the Mavs lose to the only team not to make the conference tournament by larger or smaller margins. A loss is a loss, but it would have been nice to see a little more fight. The Mavs won on senior day 8-1.

To recap, UTA has a 19-31 record. Nine losses, roughly 29 percent of their total losses, are by one run. Five losses are by two runs and three L's are by three runs. Over half of the losses were a base hit or home run away from a different outcome. But when they win, it is by a large margin. 11 of the 19 wins are by five runs or more.

Limping Towards the End

In the recent UT Arlington softball posts, I have mentioned the downward trend the team is on as the season comes to a close. The trend did not reverse itself this past weekend in the season finale and senior day at Allan Saxe Field. 

Heading into the series, UTA was 23-22. They are hoping for their first winning season since 2019. They were playing a team tied with them in the standings at their own friendly confines. They were playing for their seniors at home. All the pieces were there for a bump heading to the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Riverside California.

Coming into this weekend, UTA had won two of its last 12 games. After climbing to 21-10 and 6-3 in the WAC, the Mavericks looked like they were on pace for their best season in a while. But a sweep at the hands of Grand Canyon and series losses to Utah Valley, California Baptist, Southern Utah and now Seattle have put that in jeopardy

UTA will need to go at least 3-2 in the conference tournament for that winning record or split to avoid a losing season. There's an additional impediment that the other teams aren't facing to reach that goal.

Much Needed Weekend

The theme of the 2025 UT Arlington baseball team has been one of near misses. This past weekend did not exhibit any of the traits I have observed this season. It was one of the more dominant weekends this year.

In the last post regarding baseball, I had the following quote:

Eight one-run losses, two losses by two runs and three losses by three account for 13 of UTA's  24 losses.

Counting the week after that post, but prior to this weekend, that number had grown to nine one-run losses and three two-run losses. UTA lost by one run to Grand Canyon and had a two-run setback to Texas Christian in a midweek loss.