Mean Green Travel to Western Kentucky, UAB

DENTON - Friday evening will mark the first time North Texas volleyball will walk out on the court at Diddle Arena since the 2017 Conference USA championship match, in which the Mean Green fell to host Western Kentucky in four sets.

"It's exciting for us because it's a fun arena to play in and there's always a lot of high expectations from both sides," senior Jordyn Williams said.

Sophomore Barbara Teakell, who tallied just 11 kills in two matches against the Lady Toppers as a freshman, expressed frustration with her performance after the championship match. Now, nearly a year later, she's approaching the matchup with a different mindset.

"I haven't always performed the best when we've played them, because I think I got too focused on who we were playing instead of playing our game," Teakell said.

Things are much different on both sides of the night since the regular season co-champions faced off last November. Both squads graduated three starters who accounted for 87 points in the title game and have combined for five losses in league play, as opposed to two in 2017.

"It's going to be a really fun game to play," sophomore Barbara Teakell said. "These are the games that you live for. I'm excited to face them again."

At 4-3, North Texas sits in seventh place in the C-USA standings and one game behind the Lady Toppers, who are in fifth at 5-2.

"It epitomizes how wide open our league is this year," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "Rice is obviously one of the better teams, but everyone behind them has been playing inconsistently at home and on the road."

Williams, who played an integral role in the regular season upset of WKU in Denton, along with fellow senior Karley York are eager for one last shot to topple the Toppers.

"This is one of the games that I look forward to most," Williams said. "Last year was a great match and I look forward to backing that up."

On Sunday, the Mean Green turn around to face UAB, who handed WKU its most recent loss. North Texas looks to extend a three-match win streak over the Blazers.

"They're athletic and experienced, so we can't make those young, silly mistakes that we've been making," Palileo said. "They're playing with confidence. We'll have our opportunities, but it's a matter of whether we'll step through and take them."

Both matches will be streamed live on C-USA TV and live stats are available on the WKU Athletics and UAB Athletics sites.

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Barbara Martin

Jordyn Williams

Karley York

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