Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team fell to Texas-Arlington 3-1 (23-25, 16-25, 25-18, 15-25) in a Sun Belt Conference contest Friday at Jag Gym.

UTA (7-9, 1-0 SBC) won the first two sets of the match, 25-23 and 25-16, respectively, before South Alabama (9-5, 0-1 SBC) took the fourth set 25-18. The Mavericks won the match with a 25-15 set-four win.

UTA's Marisah Ingram finished with a game-high 13 kills along with a .455 hitting percentage and five block assists, while Qiana Canete added 12 kills. Mechell Daniel led USA with nine kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Kristina Alabastro added eight kills and two block assists, and Symone Stephenson and Nikki Gittens finished with seven kills apiece. Stephenson also recorded three block assists.

The Mavericks broke a 7-7 tie in set one with four straight points, aided by a pair of Jaguar attack errors, to take an 11-7 lead. The Jaguars cut the UTA lead to one point, 20-19, later in the set following a kill by Daniel and a Maverick attack error. But UTA scored the next three points, highlighted by a pair of kills by Canete, to build a 23-19 advantage. The Mavericks held set point at 24-20 before the Jags reeled off three straight points, which featured a pair of kills by Iva Durdanovic, to cut the UTA lead to 24-23. But a kill by UTA's Zhanelle Geathers clinched the set for the Mavericks 25-23.

With the score tied 8-8 in set two, UTA scored five straight points to take a 13-8 lead. South Alabama cut a six-point Maverick lead, 17-11, in half later in the set after a kill by Daniel and a pair of UTA attack errors. But UTA scored the final five points of the set for a 25-16 win and 2-0 lead in the match.

South Alabama answered with a 25-18 win in set three. The Jaguars held a two-point advantage at 17-15, before scoring four straight points on a UTA service error, a pair of kills by Stephenson and a kill by Alabastro to build a 21-15 lead. USA held a 23-18 lead before kills by Alabastro and Daniel clinched the set for the Jaguars.

UTA won the match with a 25-15 win in set four. After building a 13-10 lead midway through the set, the Mavericks scored four consecutive points, highlighted by kills from Kaitlyn Granger and Ingram, for a 17-10 advantage. Following a kill by Katelyn Lochner to cut the UTA lead to 22-14, the Mavericks scored three of the final four points of the set on a Jaguar service error and kills by Ingram and Canete.

"I credit UTA, they came out ready to go," USA head coach Amy Hendrichovsky said. "I feel that we are a better team than what we put on the floor tonight, and it's my fault for not getting them prepared. But we'll go back to work tomorrow and focus on Sunday. We just have to come out and play our volleyball and play like we've been playing. It's going to come down to us figuring those things out in the locker room, and we'll see what we bring on the court on Sunday."

South Alabama will return to action when it hosts Texas State at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Jag Gym.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).