UTA Volleyball (4-0) earned a nail-biting victory in five sets, 3-2, Thursday night over Santa Clara University (1-2) at College Park Center in the Maverick’s first regular season home game.
Coming off last weekend’s sweep, the Mavericks looked to build on their momentum.
This was the teams first matchup since 1999 opening the the UTA Classic, a three-game tournament running through Saturday.
Before the Thursday night game, the Western Athletic Conference named Brianna Ford as its Player of the Week.
Despite the offensive efforts by graduate outsider hitter Ford and middle blocker Paige Reagor in the first set, UTA ultimately dropped the set 26-24.
“We ultimately found that rhythm and we were able to ride it out,” head coach J.T. Wenger said.
The first set was a nail-biter after both teams each posted 37 attacks.
UTA shifted the momentum in the second set after taking an early 10-3 lead. Ford and graduate libero Alyssa Duran helped guide the Mavericks to their first set, 25-25.
It was a back-and-forth battle between both teams, but Santa Clara pulled away with the 25-16 victory.
UTA battled back and closed out the set on a 5-1 run to even the score, 25-19, and push the game to a decisive fifth set. Ford recorded 25 kills, 15 digs, and 52 attacks.
Reagor helped guide UTA with three kills, as the team picked up the 15-13 victory.
“Overall we learned that we need to lean on each other,” Ford said. “That first set, it felt like we were all playing alone, like we were not celebrating each other's victories.”
Sophomore outside hitter Evyn Snook contributed 14 total attacks, four kills, and six digs.
“The grittiness of our team and the willingness to say ‘Yes I’m gonna go’ and not stop at everything, we did a really good job at slowing down who we needed to slow down on their side,” Snook said.
Snook said the team took what Santa Clara gave them, and went to work.
Volleyball will return to action 6 p.m. Thursday at College Park Center against McNeese State University.
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