Arkansas State volleyball falls to UT Arlington
On Thursday night at First National Bank Arena, the Arkansas State volleyball team dropped a tough 3-1 outcome to UT Arlington.
Facing a two-set deficit, the Red Wolves (13-7, 4-4 SBC) battled back for a dominant 25-5 third-set victory to extend the match, but could not overtake the Mavericks (4-12, 2-5) in the fourth set.
Macey Putt led all players with 17 kills and was one of three A-State players with double-doubles on the night, notching 10 digs for her 11th double dip of the year. Paulina Sobolewska added 10 kills and 14 digs, while Lauren Musante registered a 20-20 contest with 26 assists and 20 digs. Julianna Cramer just missed the feat with 15 assists and nine digs, as did Tatum Ticknor, who collected 21 digs and eight assists.
Defensively, the Red Wolves knocked down 11 blocks led by six from Kendahl Davenport. A-State kept the Mavericks to a sub-.100 attack percentage (.097) and out-dug UTA 80-69, while hitting .195 on the offensive side.
In the opening set, UTA surged to an early 11-6 lead before the Red Wolves used a 9-0 scoring run to take a 15-11 advantage and force a timeout. That lead held until the Mavericks took seven of the last eight points in the set to win it 25-23 and lead 1-0 in the match.
The sides traded leads multiple times in the second set, with UTA taking the lead for good with an 8-2 run to lead 19-15 and force A-State to take a timeout. A 5-2 run after the break cut the deficit to 21-20 on an ace by Putt, but the Mavericks held on for another 25-23 set decision to take a 2-0 advantage.
With their backs against the wall facing a sweep, the Scarlet and Black did not go away so easily in the third set. A-State opened with a dominant 17-0 run and did not allow UTA to steal any momentum en route to a 25-5 third-set decision to put the Red Wolves on the board and make it 2-1.
After A-State took an early 2-0 lead in kills by Davenport and Sobolewska, the Mavericks took five of the next six points to regain the lead. That lead would hold, despite A-State trimming the deficit to one multiple times, with UTA clinching the match with a 25-22 fourth-set victory.
NEXT UP
A-State closes out the weekend slate at 6 p.m. Saturday, hosting reigning conference champion Texas State. The match will be broadcasted live on ESPN+, with live stats available on AStateRedWolves.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow the team on Twitter (@AStateVB) and Instagram (astatevb) along with liking the Arkansas State University Volleyball page on Facebook for the latest news and updates regarding the team.
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