SAN MARCOS, Texas — The UT Arlington volleyball team picked up a huge upset on Saturday afternoon, defeating No. 11 Texas State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18), in the regular season finale at Strahan Arena.
"This was a great team win against a very strong team," said head coach J.T. Wenger. "We did a solid job following our game plan and executed at a high level. Our serve receive was excellent the whole match, which helped set us up for offensive success."
With the win, the Mavs improve to 10-6 on the season and have now won 10+ matches in Sun Belt play in five of their eight seasons in the league, while the Bobcats suffer just their second defeat of the season and fall to 20-2 on the season (15-1 SBC).
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The Mavericks held TXST to a season-low .096 hitting percentage on the afternoon, while the Mavs were able to hit .246, which marked the second-highest hitting percentage of any Bobcat opponent this season. UTA also won the battle of assists (40-33), aces (3-2), blocks (11-9), and digs (60-48).
UTA's huge win:
- marked the first time the Mavs have taken a set from TXST since Oct. 2, 2018
- gave the Mavericks their first win over Texas State since Oct. 8, 2014
- gave the Mavs their first sweep of Texas State since Oct. 8, 2014
- snapped TXST's 17-match winning streak
- gave Texas State their first home loss against a conference opponent since dropping a 3-0 contest to South Alabama on Sept. 22, 2017, ending a 31-match winning streak
- ended Texas State's bid for a share of the SBC Regular Season championship
- gave UTA their 10th SBC win of the season
- gave the Mavs their first win over a NATIONALLY RANKED opponent in the J.T. Wenger era
"We will enjoy this victory on the ride home, and then turn our focus to the conference tournament," said Wenger. "It is nice to go into the tournament with some momentum and we look to build off of that moving forward."
SCOREBOARD: Stats, results from around the country
Janell Fitzgerald led Texas State with 10 kills, while Emily DeWalt recorded a double-double 26 assists and 15 digs.
Briana Brown had a solid outing for the Mavs, finishing with 16 kills, hitting .344 in the match and adding five digs and two blocks. Kyle Kapp recorded 16 assists and Mollie Blank turned in 14 assists. Michaela Wright and Simara Peyton both registered a team-best five blocks, while Alli Wells had a match-high 23 digs.
