SPORTS | November 11, 2003

Volleyball
Mavs fall to 4th in conference
The team follows up a tough win over UT-San Antonio with a huge loss to first place Texas State.

The Shorthorn: Awais Ikram Mavericks libero Ashley Smith digs a ball during the last home game against Texas State on Saturday at Texas Hall. The Mavericks lost the game, 3-0.

By Jon Cromer
The Shorthorn sports editor

The volleyball team bounced from one extreme to another at Texas Hall in one of its most important two-game stretches of the season.

The Mavericks won a close five-game match against UT-San Antonio on Friday but were swept by conference leader Texas State in an emotional loss Saturday evening — Senior Recognition Night — in the final home match of the season.

Head coach Janine Smith thought there were positive and negative things to take from the weekend.

“It was good that we battled and won a five-game match,” she said. “That was something we needed to get underneath us.

“I was a little bit disappointed we didn’t perform as well as we are capable of against Texas State. I still feel like that team hasn’t seen the real UTA team in either match. We have played horribly both times.”

Texas State (15-2) clinched its second regular season Southland Conference title in the last four seasons with the win over UTA, while the Mavericks (12-6) dropped to fourth place after Stephen F. Austin (13-5) and McNeese State (12-5) each won their weekend matches.

The Shorthorn: Mark Roberts Senior outside hitter Julie Felts celebrates the team’s 3-2 victory against UT-San Antonio with senior outside hitter Elizabeth Davis on Friday at Texas Hall.

In the pregame ceremony, each athlete’s parents introduced the players. Each of the four seniors — Elizabeth Davis, Julie Felts, Mindy Hubik and Melissa Robinett — received framed jerseys from Smith. The emotional night ended with disappointment.

“I don’t think we ever got started out there,” Robinett said. “We came off a great win Friday where we had to battle back. Then on Saturday, we just didn’t fight hard enough. It would have been great to go out on a win, but it just didn’t work out that way.”

Against Texas State, the Mavericks played from behind all night, never leading at any point during the matches — losing 30-22, 30-26, 30-21.

“They played well, and we didn’t,” Smith said. “It just wasn’t our night. We couldn’t get anything going. Any time we would catch up, something would go bad for us for whatever reason. We have played very poorly both times we have met that team this season.”

The Mavericks lost a close first game 30-28 on Friday against UT-San Antonio before rebounding to take the second and third games 30-28 and 30-24. The Roadrunners came back to take the fourth 30-26 before bowing out in the finale 15-11.

In the win, junior setter Heather Dunn’s 68 assists pushed her over the 1,000-assist mark for the third consecutive season — giving her 1,073 for the season with the 23 assists from the Texas State match added in. With 4,040 career assists, Dunn needs just 50 more to pass Colleen Farrell, who is fourth on the university’s career assists list with 4,089.

The Shorthorn: Awais Ikram Junior middle blocker Heather Dunn, left, and sophomore middle blocker Melissa Marerk deny the ball as senior middle blocker Melissa Robinett watches during Saturday’s game at Texas Hall.

Five players finished with double-digit kills for the Mavericks, including senior Elizabeth Davis and sophomore Stephanie Miklis, who finished with 21 kills each. Freshman Ashley Smith had a team-high 24 defensive digs.

UTA will get a chance to get back in the win column tonight as it hits the road to take on Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La., at 7 p.m. The Mavericks close out the regular season Saturday in Huntsville against Sam Houston State.

“We need to look past the whole season up to this point and just focus on these next two matches as well as the three matches we need to win the conference tournament,” Melissa Robinett said.

CORRECTION

A photo caption that accompanied this story should have identified the volleyball players as Ashley Smith and Ashley Van Antwerp.

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