ARLINGTON, Texas – Qiana Canete collected a match-high 17 kills to go along with 11 digs and four blocks to lead UT Arlington to a 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18) Sun Belt Conference volleyball victory over Georgia Southern Friday night at the College Park Center.

Kym Coley tallied 16 kills and eight blocks to lead the Eagles (6-16, 5-7), while Cathrine Murray posted 14 kills, eight digs and two blocks. Jamie DeRatt finished with 11 kills, 15 digs and two blocks, and Avery Stephens had a match-high 21 digs. Kat Minnerly recorded 44 assists, 11 digs and three blocks.

Stacey Koch had eight kills and three blocks for UT Arlington (19-5, 9-3), and Briana Sharratt finished with six kills and eight blocks. Caitlyn Cooney added 17 digs and six assists.

Georgia Southern's defense was solid as the Eagles tallied 13 blocks and 67 digs as a team, holding the Mavericks to .142 hitting for the match. But UTA was a touch better, posting 15.5 blocks and holding the Eagles to an .085 hitting percentage.

"We played well in stretches tonight, but we had too many mental lapses," said Georgia Southern coach Dustin Wood. "Our defense did a great job tonight to give us opportunities, but we were not mentally strong consistently. We need to refocus for a very important match tomorrow and learn from our mistakes."

Leading the match 2-1, the Mavericks scored six straight points to break a 17-17 tie in the fourth set with the help of Cassidy Wheeler's serve. Canete ignited the run with a kill and added another during the stretch. Coley stopped the run with a kill for Georgia Southern, but the Mavericks took the next two points to win the set and the match.

The first set was tightly-contested all the way through with neither team gaining more than a three-point lead. With the score tied 22-22, the Mavericks notched three points in a row, keyed by kills from Canete and Sharratt. 

Trailing 24-19 in the second set, Georgia Southern fought for four straight points on the strength of Murray's serve. DeRatt got the sideout with a kill, and Coley followed with a kill. After two Maverick hitting errors, Canete put down a kill to give UTA a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Eagles never trailed in the third set and opened a 20-10 cushion, keyed by a pair of blocks by Coley and Minnerly. UTA fought back to trim the margin to 23-18, but Minnerly and Murray posted kills to finish the set off for the Eagles. 

Georgia Southern plays at Texas State Saturday night. First serve is slated for 8 p.m. (Eastern).