ARLINGTON, Texas (10/16/20) – Madison Brown recorded a career-best day both offensively and defensively, but Arkansas State dropped a hard-fought 3-1 decision to UT Arlington Friday night at the College Park Center.
Brown recorded 24 kills on a program-record 89 attempts to go along with 15 digs to lead A-State (4-3, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference), but UTA (5-0, 5-0) got key points late in sets to seal the win and remain unbeaten. In two matches on Friday, Brown has recorded 40 kills.
Lauren Musante posted her second straight double-double of the weekend – her fifth of the season – with a season-high 45 assists and career-high 28 digs. Musante's 45 assists are the most by a Red Wolf since Nov. 17, 2018 (Ellie Watkins – 50). Tatum Ticknor posted a career day in digs with 37, the most by an A-State player since Markie Schaedig collected 40 versus UTA on Oct. 17, 2014. Brianna Hollingshed tallied a career-high 10 kills to accompany four blocks.
As a team, A-State fired 222 total attacks, the most since before 2010. Defensively, the Red Wolves collected 125 total digs, which was the most since before 2010. The Scarlet and Black also continued to produce double-digit blocking numbers with 12. Josie Stanford led the way with a career-tying seven blocks while Kendahl Davenport added six. Peyton Uhlenhake just missed a double-double with eight kills and 16 digs, matching her career-high. Ryley Gill also registered 10 digs, a season high.
Brianna Ford led UTA with 14 kills, as three Mavericks tallied double-digit kills. Simara Peyton and Brooke Townsend recorded 10. Both Ford and Townsend notched double-doubles. Mollie Blank also posted a double-double with 24 assists and 21 digs. Alli Wells led with 27 digs while Kylee Kapp had 12 assists and 11 digs.
SET 1 – UT Arlington 25-22
The teams traded leads in the early parts of the first set, with UTA going on a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. A-State would manufacture a 4-0 run of its own a few points later to lead 12-10 on multiple kills and a solo block by Brown. UTA then reclaimed a lead before A-State's 3-0 run made it 18-15 Red Wolves. The Mavericks continued to keep it close, eventually taking nine of the last 12 points in the set to take a tight first set.
SET 2 – A-State 25-18
A-State took the first two points of the second set before UT Arlington scored five straight to lead 5-2. The Red Wolves then went on a tremendous 10-1 run fueled by three kills from Brown to surge ahead 12-6. From there, A-State would not give up the lead, holding off a tough comeback attempt late to take the second set 25-18.
SET 3 – UT Arlington 25-22
UTA came out with an early 3-0 lead and held that lead until the Red Wolves went on a 5-1 run to lead 10-9 after a kill by Stanford. The teams would trade leads and ties until A-State went ahead 19-17 on back-to-back kills by Brown. The Mavericks then went on a 3-0 run to lead 20-19 and force an A-State timeout. After a Stanford kill tied it at 22, UTA claimed the next three points to move ahead 2-1 in the match.
SET 4 – UT Arlington 25-23
After A-State led 3-2 early, the Mavericks surged ahead 9-3 on a 7-0 run. The Red Wolves would claw back to close the gap and take a 15-13 lead. UTA then went on a 4-0 stretch to lead 17-15 before an 8-1 run that included three kills by Hollingshed make it 22-17 Red Wolves. A-State would only manufacture one more point, as UTA took advantage of miscues to take eight of the last nine points to take the set and match.
A-State closes out the weekend in Arlington Saturday at 1 p.m. The match will be broadcasted on ESPN+ and live stats can be viewed at AStateStats.com.
Fans can follow the team on Twitter (@AStateVB) and Instagram (astatevb) along with liking the Arkansas State University Volleyball page on Facebook for the latest news and updates regarding the team.
