Mean Green Sweet 16: Palileo becomes all-time wins leader

Mean Green Sweet 16: Palileo becomes all-time wins leader

3/27/2020 9:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

MEAN GREEN SWEET SIXTEEN

Head coach Andrew Palileo becomes all-time wins leader, reaches 400 career wins

North Texas volleyball's Andrew Palileo entered his 20th season as a collegiate head coach just several wins away from rewriting the Mean Green record books. However, the Honolulu, Hawaii, native didn't even seem to notice. Instead, Palileo put his head down and went to work for the 2019 season, which saw the Mean Green go 17-11 with a 10-4 mark in Conference USA play. He now has six winning seasons in his seven years at the helm in Denton.

His success is largely due to a coaching philosophy that relies on hard work producing positive results. That same principle is why Palileo etched his name into North Texas volleyball history during the 2019 season. On Nov. 1, the Mean Green traveled to The Sunshine State for a road tilt with Florida International. Without his second-team All-Conference setter, Palileo led North Texas into Miami and left with a thrilling five set victory (25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 17-25, 15-13) to become the program's all-time leader in wins with 134. The win over FIU embodied Palileo's philosophy of finding a way to win, no matter the circumstances.

With a win over FIU on Nov. 1, 2019, Andrew Palileo recorded his 134th victory as the head coach of the Mean Green, the most of any head coach in program history.

It's a great feeling. I've had the support of the administration in providing us resources and support for our staff and student-athletes. They allow us to really do something with this program and make an impact.

Head coach Andrew Palileo

Congratulations to @NTCoachPali who with tonight's win is now the winnigest head coach in #MGVB history!

He passes Cassie Headrick (133) for the most-wins as a head coach while at North Texas!

Congrats Coach!!#GMG | #FAMILY pic.twitter.com/ZvC9Yqyu3l
— Mean Green Volleyball (@MeanGreenVB) November 2, 2019

North Texas Mean Green Volleyball vs WKU NOV 08

Becoming North Texas' winningest coach wasn't the only milestone Palileo reached in 2019. Earlier in the year, UNT made the drive to Abilene Christian for a tournament at Moody Coliseum. On Sept. 14, the final day of the tournament, junior setter Kaliegh Skopal laid a perfect ball to senior outside hitter Valerie Valerian for a game-winning kill against ACU.

The win marked Palileo's 400th career victory as a head coach. He is the only coach in program history to reach 400 career wins. UNT would continue on to win 12 more games in 2019 to give Palileo a 412-284 career record through 20 seasons as a head coach. (25-17, 25-20, 25-22)

Congratulations to @NTCoachPali who with the 3-0 win over ACU has earned 400 wins as a head coach at the collegiate level.

Congratulations Coach from the entire Mean Green Family!#GMG | #UNiTeNorthTexas pic.twitter.com/NCH27p17tz
— Mean Green Volleyball (@MeanGreenVB) September 14, 2019