#5 North Texas Advances To C-USA Tourney Semis

Friday, November 16

Huntington, WV

1 p.m.

University of North Texas

16-15

Florida Atlantic University

21-7

North Texas

Florida Atlantic

11/16/2018 3:26:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, WV – After dropping set one, the Mean Green volleyball team rattled off three-straight convincing set wins to down #4 Florida Atlantic in the opening round of the Air Force Reserves Conference USA Championships (16-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-18).

North Texas advances to face #1 Rice University Owls in the semi-finals on Saturday at 11 a.m. local time.

It was a three-pronged attack for North Texas (16-15) on the afternoon as three players reached double-digit kills. Senior Jordyn Williams and sophomore Valerie Valerian each checked in with 13 kills, while sophomore Barbara Teakell had 12 of her own.

Valerian finished with a double-double, tying a season high also set against FAU (21-7) in the regular season with 18 digs. Teakell also notched a double-double with 13 digs of her own.

Senior captain Karley York provided 43 assists and 14 digs, her team-leading 16th double-double of the year. She now has 3,606 career assists.

"We've worked through some adversity," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "I think that's really helped us at the end of the year. Our offense was balanced tonight and Karley was able to set up our hitters pretty consistently."

FAU opened the match in convincing fashion. Led by junior Sigourney Kame, the Owls jumped out to a 6-2 lead and never looked like giving it up. The Mean Green could never string more than two-straight points together, as FAU won five of the last six points in the set to walk away with a 25-16 victory.

North Texas flipped the result exactly in set two. Teakell found her rhythm, as she was a part of three-straight North Texas points to get things rolling in the right direction. The Mean Green then won five-straight points to take a 13-5 lead. The Owls scraped into the lead momentarily, but the Mean Green won six of the last seven points to win 25-16.

The Mean Green opened-up with another lead in set three, leading 3-0 early. The Owls fought back midway through the set thanks to Kame. But North Texas was able to hit for a high percentage to close set three. The Mean Green finished with a .264 hitting percentage after finishing set one in the high .100's. FAU hit for just .159 percent.

"We came out chasing," Palileo said. "We were a bit tentative. We just settled in and started playing the game at a slower pace but still fast."

Set four was all North Texas. Aided along by junior Olivia Petnicki's 11 digs in three sets after checking in, North Texas took a massive foothold on the set in the 10's. After FAU tied the set 12-12, North Texas rattled off six straight points and could not even be deterred by an Owls timeout.

York found Valerian for the final point of the match, as the Mean Green felt the ecstasy. It is a quick turnaround to 11 a.m. local time tomorrow, facing the #1 seed, but the Mean Green are ready.

"Rice has been good all season," Palileo said. "We'll have to play better. But we're ready for the opportunity to compete."