Box Score
DENTON, Texas (10/07/08) The Mean Green volleyball team tussled toe-to-toe with SMU on Tuesday night, but couldn’t fend off the Mustangs late in a tough 3-0 loss (26-24, 25-22, 27-25).
North Texas (3-14, 1-3 Sun Belt) had the Mustangs (10-9, 2-3 Conference USA) on the ropes with the score tied at 24 apiece in both the first and third sets, but an experienced SMU squad had the answer.
“I was really happy with the way we played against a tough SMU team,” said North Texas head coach Cassie Headrick. “We took some good swings at the ball, but their block was a little too strong for us tonight.”
A game-changer on more than one occasion, the SMU block accounted for 10 total points, with Kendra Kahanek and Jessica Oliver in on seven and six of those send backs, respectively.
North Texas trailed 12-7 early in the first set before Roxana Casvean spurred a 7-1 Mean Green run. The sophomore posted six of her match-high 17 kills in the first set, and brought NT back into the game.
The opening-set slugfest was tied at 24 apiece before an NT attack error and a Kahanek spike gave the Ponies a 1-0 lead.
Kayla Saey earned her second straight start at setter, and quarterbacked the Mean Green with precision. The freshman tallied match-highs with 37 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double of the year.
It was Saey’s passing that put North Texas into position in the third set. She set up Salah Schoenecke across the middle to put the Mean Green up 23-22, but an SMU block and a Natalie Peters kill ended the match.
North Texas out-killed the Ponies 46-42, and registered six more digs. In the end, 27 attack errors by the Mean Green was too much to overcome.
North Texas returns to Sun Belt Conference play this weekend at Florida Atlantic on Friday and Florida International on Sunday.
