ARLINGTON — McKenzie Adams delivered 24 kills and 13 digs to pace UTSA to a four-set victory at UT Arlington (25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20) on Friday night in the second match of this weekend's Hilton Mavericks Classic.
Dajana Boskovic and Dempsey Thornton both added 10 winners for the Roadrunners (5-4), who went over .500 for the first time this season.
Adams led the way in a dominant first set by hitting .400 on the strength of six kills and seven digs. Jessica Waldrip passed out 15 of her match-high 31 assists to lead a UTSA offensive attack that hit .293 in the set. Meanwhile, UT Arlington (4-4) managed to hit only .071.
The Mavericks started fast in the following frame by jumping out to a 7-1 advantage on two kills each from Shelby Dickson and Charmaine Whitmore. The Birds began to chip away at the deficit and eventually took a 20-19 lead on a combined block by Adams and Kylie Schott. However, UT Arlington recovered and scored five of the final half dozen points to even the match at intermission.
The Roadrunners bounced back in the third. UTSA broke a 10-all tie with an 8-1 run to take full control and grab 2-1 lead. Tessa Dahnert and Boskovic registered four kills each.
Thornton (three kills) and Brandy Huskey (10 assists) highlighted the decisive final set for the Roadrunners.
UTSA will conclude tournament play with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Roadrunners will take on Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-5) for the second time this week at 11 a.m. before squaring off with Mississippi Valley State (3-8) at 4:30 p.m. The Islanders got past the Delta Devilettes in four sets in the event's opening match on Friday.