A weekend road trip through Texas did not end well for Georgia State volleyball as the Panthers fell to the UT Arlington Mavericks in three sets. The loss is the 11th in Sun Belt competition and brings Georgia State’s overall mark to 9˗18.
Set One
The two teams traded the first three points each, but two of the Mavericks points resulted from a pair of Georgia State service errors. The Panthers would then increase their lead to 6˗4 as they scored three of the ensuing four points. Only one of the four UT Arlington scores was not the result of a Panthers service error.
With the Panthers ahead 7˗4, three Georgia State errors plus a kill from Stacey Koch produced a 4˗0 and a lead for the Mavericks at 8˗7.
The Panthers would then go ahead 9˗8 with Andrea Book’s first kill of the match along with a Molly Shonk service ace. An error from Shonk evened things up at nine apiece.
Stinson’s second kill gave the Panthers a 10˗9 before kills from Koch and Brianna Sharratt along with a pair of Georgia State errors produced a 4˗0 run, prompting a Panthers timeout.
UT Arlington had pulled ahead 13˗10. Eliza Zachary contributed her second kill to bring the Panthers to within one before Hannah Baptiste, Taylor Gross, Taylor Story (via service ace), Sharratt, and Qiana Canete all contributed to a 5˗0 run for the Mavericks to increase their lead to 18˗11.
Deidra Bohannon’s fifth kill would bring the score to 18˗12 before a team block and a Canete kill extended the UT Arlington advantage to 20˗12. Bohannon would later put in her sixth kill along with attack errors from Canete plus a Nieto service ace and a Georgia State block for a 6˗0 Panthers run, leading to a Mavericks timeout.
The Panthers had closed to within 20˗17 on the previous plays. Gross ended the run with second kill of the match. Koch and Bennett then got credit for a block to increase the UT Arlington edge to 22˗17.
Stinson’s third kill and an attack error from Canete that went out of bounds brought the Panthers to within three at 22˗19. A back and forth play on the next ball would result in a double hit by Georgia State to make the score 23˗19. Bennett’s first kill would force set point for UT Arlington at 24˗19.
An attack error from Canete that went out of bounds produced the Panthers’ 20th point before Koch was credited with her third kill on a Georgia State net interference, allowing the Mavericks to claim the first set, 25˗20.
Set Two
A pair of Sharratt kills plus a pair of Panthers miscues and a Zachary attack error led to a fast start for UT Arlington at 5˗1, prompting a Georgia State timeout. Nieto then committed a ball handling error which grew the Mavericks’ lead to 6˗1.
UT Arlington would maintain its five point advantage at 8˗3 as well as at 9˗4.
After a block from Koch and Bennett made the score 10˗4, Georgia State would see a second kill from Ajanaku along with a Baptiste error for a 10˗6 score.
With the score at 11˗7 UT Arlington, Sharratt’s fifth kill along with a Sharratt and Baptiste block would bring the score to 13˗7 in favor of the Mavericks.
The lead for UT Arlington would be maintained as the score became 14˗8. It grew later to seven at 17˗10. Two Panther points would bring them within five at 17˗12 before the Mavericks responded with a pair of their own.
Canete’s fifth kill gained by seven at 19˗12. UT Arlington’s 20th point would come via Stinson kill attempt that turned into another block by Koch and Bennett.
Two blocks from the Mavericks would produce a 22˗15 advantage before a service error that went into the net made the score 22˗16. UT Arlington would ultimately win the second set by the same margin as the 25th point would come via a Panthers attack error that went out of bounds.
Set Three
The two teams would play each other close in the early going of the third and final frame as the Panthers and Mavericks would see themselves all knotted up at five apiece.
After a Nieto service error and a kill from Bohannon, three Panthers miscues and a kill courtesy of Koch would lead equal a 4˗0 run, a 10˗6 Mavericks lead and a timeout from Georgia State.
Ajanaku and Bennett would then exchange kills before two errors from UT Arlington would lead to two more Panthers points. A pair of Georgia State miscues was followed by a pair of Mavericks kills to up their lead to 15˗9 as Georgia State called timeout in hopes of slowing the momentum of UT Arlington.
The next Panthers point would come with Stinson’s sixth kill which made the game 16˗10 in favor of the Mavericks. Canete’s seventh kill, Gross’ fourth, and Sharratt’s eighth in addition to four consecutive Panthers attack errors all equaled a 7˗0 UT Arlington run and a 23˗10 lead.
Bohannon’s 14th kill and a ball handling error by Story would be responsible for the final two Panthers points as Sharratt’s ninth kill and an Ajanaku error led to a 25˗12 UT Arlington victory for the set and the match.
The Panthers will return home to close out the season with matchups against Troy on Friday and Appalachian State on Saturday.
| Georgia State | UT-Arlington |
|---|---|
| Bohannon: 14 kills | Ajanaku: 5 kills |
| Sharratt: 9 kills, .600 hitting | Canete: 7 kills |
The Panthers will return home to close out the season with matchups against Troy on Friday and Appalachian State on Saturday.
