FLORENCE, Ala. — UT Arlington lost to North Ala., 3-2 on Thursday night in Florence, Alabama at the CB&S Bank Arena. UTA dropped the first two sets 23-25 and 23-25, answered with 25-23 and 25-20 wins, and fell 9-15 in the fifth. The Mavericks move to 8-11 overall and 2-5 in UAC play.

 

HOW IT HAPPENED

The opening set moved back and forth early, with UTA getting kills from Hana Aiana, Camryn McMinn and Evyn Snook before North Ala. went ahead 10-9 on Jenna Kolosta’s kill. Dixie Nessl tied it with a kill, and the Mavericks later built a 15-11 lead behind Snook’s kill, a Lily Hopkins ace and another Aiana kill. North Ala. answered from 16-13 with five straight points to move in front 18-16, then pushed the lead to 21-17 after a Reese Ricketts kill and a Lankford Gurner ace. UTA cut the margin to 23-22 on kills by Karisa Martin and Snook, but North Ala. reached set point on a Ricketts kill and closed the set 25-23.

 

UTA moved ahead 11-8 in the second set when an Evyn Snook kill and a Camryn McMinn service ace capped an early back-and-forth stretch. North Ala. scored four straight to turn a 12-10 UTA lead into a 14-12 deficit, then later used another four-point run, capped by kills from Dylann Garner and Phoebe Reyes Fortunato, to stretch the margin to 19-14. Hana Aiana had a kill and an ace as the Mavericks worked back into the set, and two McMinn kills plus a North Ala. attack error brought the Mavs within 20-19. North Ala. answered with three straight points for 23-19 and later led 24-21, but a Martin kill and a Martin-Aiana block cut it to 24-23 before Reese Ricketts ended the set for North Ala., 25-23.

 

After a series of early ties, North Ala. moved ahead 14-12 on a Jenna Kolosta kill, but UTA answered with six straight points behind a Nessl kill, an Erica Dellesky ace and another Nessl kill to go up 18-14. North Ala. cut the margin to 18-17 with kills by Phoebe Reyes Fortunato and Anna Hoffmayer, but Camryn McMinn and Evyn Snook put down kills for a 20-17 lead, and two more Snook kills helped UTA reach set point at 24-20. North Ala. scored three straight at set point, including a Reese Ricketts kill and a block by Reyes Fortunato and Kolosta, before a service error closed the Mavericks’ 25-23 set win.

 

North Ala. used consecutive Reese Ricketts service aces to move ahead 6-3, but the Mavericks worked back behind multiple Camryn McMinn kills, took a 9-8 edge on Karisa Martin’s kill and later stretched the lead to 13-9 with Evyn Snook’s kill and a block by Martin and Nessl. North Ala. answered with four straight points to tie it at 13-13, and after Snook helped UTA regain a 15-13 lead, Ricketts and Jenna Kolosta kills helped North Ala. move back in front at 18-17. The Mavericks took seven of the next eight rallies, with McMinn tying the set at 18-18 on a kill and then blocking Phoebe Reyes Fortunato for a 19-18 lead before a North Ala. service error and three consecutive UTA blocks made it 24-19. North Ala. got one point back on a Dylann Garner kill, but a Ricketts attack error closed UT Arlington’s 25-20 set win.

 

Evyn Snook twice brought UTA even early in the fifth set, but North Ala. moved from a 2-2 tie to a 6-2 lead behind a Reese Ricketts ace and kills by Phoebe Reyes Fortunato and Dylann Garner. Hana Aiana and Camryn McMinn helped the Mavericks cut the gap to 7-5, and McMinn added another kill after North Ala. reached 8-5. North Ala. pushed back ahead 12-7 before a service error and a Snook block pulled UTA within 12-9. Ricketts answered with consecutive kills, and North Ala. closed the set 15-9 on a block by Reyes Fortunato and Jenna Kolosta.

 

Game Notes

UP NEXT

UTA continues conference play on the road, as they take on West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia at The Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. CT.

 


–#BuckEm–

 

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