University of North Texas Athletics
University of North Texas
University of Tulsa
Postseason Ready
11/28/2018 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON - It took a turnaround, but the Mean Green volleyball team is back in the postseason.
After ending its season with a 9-2 stretch across the final 11 games, North Texas finished a game above .500 at 17-16 and earned a trip to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Mean Green Volleyball Center will host first- and second-round matches on Thursday and Friday, with the Mean Green taking on Tulsa (19-11) on Thursday at 7 p.m. It is the second year in a row for North Texas to host first-round matches.
"We're looking forward to competing on Thursday," head coach Andrew Palileo said. "Anytime you can play at home, especially our home, it's always a plus for us. I know our girls enjoy playing in front of our fans and band. They do such a good job. We feel really good about our chances when we play at home."
North Texas had to turn its season around to find itself in the position to play in the NIVC.
Marred by injuries in the first half of the year, the Mean Green struggled to open conference play, dropping four of their first eight conference games. On October 19, the Mean Green swept Western Kentucky on the road, UNT's first victory over the Hilltoppers in Bowling Green. That sparked a run across the final 10 games. A 9-1 run to be exact, led by sophomore Valerie Valerian, who averaged 4.25 kills per set in the final 10 matches and being the team's kill leader at 153 in the stretch.
Seniors Karley York and Jordyn Williams were key as well. Williams led the team in hitting at .349 while York surpassed 1,000 digs on her North Texas career while averaging 10.92 assists per set, including 55 in the NIVC clincher against Wichita State in the final regular-season game.
"I think this has been a continuing build up as to where we want our program to go," Palileo said. "How we want our success to be consistent. We are working to do everything the right way and be consistent. The team is excited to play. We're a different team now."
Tulsa won the only match between the two teams this season in September in five sets. It was a career night for a handful of Mean Green as York set a high for digs with 25 and freshman Kasey Bortnem had a career-best 26 digs. Freshman Rhett Robinson also turned in a career mark 16 digs along with 22 kills.
"Our line-up is going to be completely different from when we faced them earlier in the year," Palileo said. "[Tulsa] is playing well. In any case, it will be a battle no matter what. We have to handle the ball on our side of the net as well as we can."
The winner of Thursday's matches will advance to the second round on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Denton. Wichita State and the Central Arkansas face in the other round-one match at 4:30 on Thursday.
All matches will be carried on cusa.tv streaming service. Follow along with @MeanGreenVB on all social channels for live updates.
