Mean Green Depart For Final Road Trip Of 2018

DENTON - The North Texas volleyball team will leave home for the final time before the Conference USA Tournament for a two-match road trip. The Mean Green will be hosted by Middle Tennessee State before heading to Mississippi to face Southern Mississippi.

The last time North Texas (11-15, 7-3 C-USA) defeated Middle Tennessee was the clincher for the regular season C-USA title in 2017. The Mean Green are looking to extend their three-match winning streak after beating Marshall in straight sets (25-21, 25-15, 25-18) last Sunday.

"We're kind of going in the right direction," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "It's all about cleaning up what we're doing and maintaining what we're doing well. Speaking with the players that's been our theme – clean up and maintain."

Sophomore Valerie Valerian sits just 17 kills away from 350 for the season after her team-leading 20th double digit performance this season when she recorded 11 kills against Marshall. The 2017 C-USA Co-Freshman of the Year led the team with 14 kills on a .609 clip against the Blue Raiders (7-17, 2-8 C-USA) in the championship clinching match as a freshman a year ago.

"We're feeling great," Valerian said. "We're keeping the momentum. It helps to get a few wins under our belts here. We're going in confident and feeling strong."

Friday also gives the North Texas a chance to extend their seven-match win streak against Middle Tennessee. The Mean Green have won every match against the Blue Raiders from the 2012 season on, winning 21 sets while only dropping five.

Karley York has never lost to MTSU in her tenure at North Texas. The Senior recorded 32 assists against the Blue Raiders in 2017, and sits just 57 assists shy of 1000 for the second straight season. York currently sits at fifth all-time in career assists with 3,426.

"She's been through the grind here," Palileo said. "She played a little as a freshman. Started really making an impact her sophomore year. She's invested and doing everything she can. She knows this is her last opportunity to make it to the NCAA tournament and she's taking advantage of it. She is trying to help lead this group of players to another championship."

North Texas currently sits in a tie for third place with Western Kentucky in the C-USA standings at 7-3.

The Mean Green and Blue Raiders are set for a 7 p.m. start Friday night.

North Texas will then head to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for a Sunday afternoon matchup with Southern Miss (13-12, 5-5 C-USA). The match is set for a 1 p.m. start.

The Golden Eagles were the only C-USA opponent to down North Texas during the 2017 regular season that last time the Mean Green traveled to Hattiesburg.

"We have to use that experience that we went through last year to help close out the end of the season," Palileo said. "We're focusing on getting better individually and as a team. The players are putting in hard work and starting to see the results of it."

Sophomore Barbara Teakell recorded 17 kills in the last match against Southern Miss as a freshman, her current career best that she has achieved multiple times.

Both matches will be streamed live on C-USA TV and live stats will be available to follow along. Mean Green Volleyball's social channels will keep you up to date with the happenings this weekend.

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Barbara Martin

Valerie Valerian

Karley York

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