Mean Green, Cyclones Clash In NIVC Round 3

DENTON - The 2017 North Texas volleyball season was one to remember. Twenty-nine wins, a regular season Conference USA championship plus a second-place finish in the C-USA Tournament and a trip to the postseason.

The postseason road came to an end in the second round in 2017, but not in 2018. After taking down Wichita State in four sets, the Mean Green earned a trip to the third round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.

The Mean Green fell to TCU in the second round of the NIVC in 2017. The loss came after a thrilling five set match (26-24, 21-15, 25-23, 23-25, 10-15). However, the same would not be true in the 2018 edition of the tournament. North Texas defeated Wichita State (14-18) on Friday night in four sets (25-19, 24-26, 25-14, 25-21) and punched their ticket to Ames, Iowa, where they will take on Iowa State University Wednesday night in round three.

The Cyclones (18-13) have yet to lose a set in the NIVC. Iowa State has played all six sets at home, winning handily over Drake University and Bradley University.

It may be new territory for the Mean Green and head coach Andrew Palileo, but the squad welcomes the challenge.

"We've never made it past this point," Palileo said. "But I'm guessing our preparation will be pretty similar to what we've been doing. Part of that is process. Part of that is refining the things we can clean up on and maintaining what we've been doing through this run. That's what we've been doing. We will work on the nuances based on opponent."

Success in this year's tournament has been led mostly by sophomore Valerie Valerian, freshman Rhett Robinson and senior Karley York.

Valerian leads the team with 36 kills, recording 18 in each of the first two rounds while hitting at a .273 clip. Valerian's 18 on Friday night gave her 27 double digit kill matches this seasons, a team best.

Robinson has been instrumental on both sides of the net. The Krum native has registered 22 kills along with four blocks as well as 13 digs across the two matches.

Karley York has probably had the most memorable tournament run. The San Antonio native has registered 107 assists, 48 in round one and a season-best 59 in round two. However, it was a kill by Robinson in set one of Friday's match that gave York a well-earned accomplishment. On the play, the senior reordered her 13th assist of the match and 3,763rd of her career. Giving her sole possession of fourth place all-time in program history. York has registered 3,809 assists to date.

It certainly helps that North Texas now back to nearly full strength after a stretch of injuries plagued the Mean Green early in the season.

"It's just made our floor better," Palileo said after the win Friday. "You try to find the core group of players who are playing well together. The biggest thing that has changed is our gym culture. Having everybody back just lets us compete in the gym at a higher level compared to when we had injuries."

North Texas' offense has been driven by a committee of hitters. Along with Valerian and Robinson, senior Jordyn Williams, sophomore Barbara Teakell and freshman Sarah Haeussler have been putting balls down with somewhat ease to start off tournament play.

Teakell has tallied 24 kills, Williams has added 22 and Haeussler has 19 to her name, along with 5.5 blocks. Teakell also dug a team-best 27 balls across rounds one and two.

The Mean Green and Cyclones' will meet for the first time ever in round three. The match is set for Wednesday, December 5th from Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa at 6 p.m.

If North Texas is to advance, they would take on the winner of University of Nevada Las Vegas and Portland, that match will be played on Thursday night.

The match will be carried online by the host school with a live stream on Cyclone TV. Live stats will also be available online. You can also follow along with @MeanGreenVB on all social media channels for live updates. Full tournament information and an updated bracket can be accessed at womensnivc.com.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sarah Haeussler

Barbara Martin

Rhett Robinson

Valerie Valerian

Jordyn Williams

Karley York

Upcoming Events

University of North Texas Athletics