VOLLEYBALLERS HONORED. Junior right-side hitter Torie Dacus was named to the 2006 Southland Conference volleyball first team. Senior libero Ashley Smith and junior setter Emily Nedderman earned second-team honors. Guided by third-year coach Diane Seymour, UT Arlington finished 25-10 and placed second in the SLC West Division behind Stephen F. Austin. The Mavericks also were runner-up to SFA in the conference tournament. Smith and freshman Teena Sobczak were named to the all-tournament team. Smith, the only senior, became the school's all-time leader in digs with 1,921 and led the NCAA with 863 digs last season.

HULETT RUNS TO NATIONAL MEET. Junior Jodi Hulett qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. She finished third in the Southland Conference meet, then was eighth at the NCAA regional in Waco, which secured a place in the national meet in Indiana. She was the first woman from UT Arlington to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Kristin Ahlepil in 1997. In the Southland Conference championships, the UT Arlington women finished third and the men fourth.

WALLACE, WOMEN RECOGNIZED. Senior guard Terra Wallace was named to the all-Southland Conference preseason first team while junior guard Maryann Abanobi and senior forward Ashley Bobb made the second team. League coaches picked the women to win the West Division of the 12-team SLC, which goes to divisional play this year. The men's team was picked to finish fourth in the division.

PENCE NAMED TO ALL-STAR TEAM. Former outfielder Hunter Pence was named to the 2006 Minor League All-Star first team selected by the Baseball America staff. The team consists of the top 14 players in minor league baseball, regardless of level of play. Pence, considered by the publication as a top prospect in the Houston Astros organization, helped lead Corpus Christi to the Texas League championship by hitting .283 with 28 home runs and 95 RBIs. Read more about Pence on page 16.

FORMER MAV MEETS WORLD’S BEST. Former UT Arlington women's basketball standout Rola Ogunoye played for the Nigerian National Team at the FIBA World Championships in Brazil in September. Nigeria was eliminated in the preliminary round as Ogunoye saw action off the bench.

CONNAUGHTON ADDS TO MEDAL COLLECTION. Senior sprinter Jared Connaughton captured a silver medal in the 200-meter dash at the 2006 Canadian Track and Field Championships last summer. He also won a bronze medal in the 200 at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Under-23 Track Championships in the Dominican Republic. Connaughton is the defending Southland Conference champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

COACHES, TRAINER JOIN STAFF. Seven assistant coaches and staff members recently joined the Athletics Department. The new assistant coaches are Ulric Maligi, men's basketball, from Howard University; Lindsey Wilson, women's basketball, from the University of Central Oklahoma; Roy Williams, track and field, from All Saints Episcopal School in Fort Worth; and Younes Limam, tennis, from the University of Central Oklahoma. Other additions are Mark Flatten, volunteer baseball coach, from Lutheran High School in Orange County, Calif.; Joey Prebynski, director of baseball operations, after serving as a student assistant the past three years; and Julie Homuth, assistant trainer, from Michigan State University.

MAVERICKS NOTES. Women's basketball coach Donna Capps earned her 100th career win in December with a victory against Mississippi at the Tulane Double Tree Classic in New Orleans. … The International Tennis Association selected sophomore Klara Jagosova to play in the ITA All-American Tournament in Palisades, Calif., in October. … The women's doubles team of Sara Pesic and Daniela Novakova captured the consolation championship at the ITA Regional Tennis Tournament in October. … Former golfer Tyrone Mordt advanced to match-play competition of the 2006 U.S. Amateur Golf Tournament in Chaska, Minn., in August.