University of North Texas
-148,72 CUSA
UTSA
-613,34 CUSA
Volleyball defeats UTSA in four sets
10/21/2021 9:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON — North Texas hit .282 as a team and put together a seven point comeback in the first set on their way to a four set victory (25-22, 21-25, 25-15, 25-19) over UTSA on Thursday night.
The win marks seven straight victories for North Texas (14-8, 7-2) in Conference USA action. The Mean Green have a five game winning streak overall, and have won seven of their last eight games in total.
"It's a confidence booster for sure," head coach Andrew Palileo said of the winning streak. "But it's all about building and progressing to the ultimate run at the end of the season. We're definitely hitting our stride."
The Mean Green collected 24 kills from senior Rhett Robinson, while middle blocker Sarah Haeussler added 10 to help fuel the offensive effort. Freshman Andrea Owens also contributed eight kills, while Kaliegh Skopal had 46 assists.Â
Three players had double figure digs, led by 15 from Henrianna Ibarra.
North Texas claimed the first set despite trailing for the large majority of it. The Mean Green went down by as much as seven before roaring back late, putting together two separate 5-0 and 4-0 runs to win 25-22.
"The last several matches, we've stayed pretty poised." Palileo said. "We've turned a corner on not breaking down. We had just enough passing and offense to come back."
The second set wasn't as divided as the first was, but UTSA still controlled it throughout for the most part, coming away with a 25-21 win.
Despite an early back and forth, the third set was dominated by North Texas. The Mean Green jumped out to as much as a 10 point lead and controlled the frame throughout, coming away with a 25-15 win.
The fourth and final set was a set filled with runs. North Texas and UTSA tallied multiple 3-0 runs in back to back sequences, keeping the frame relatively close. However, the Mean Green used a 4-0 run late to claim the 25-19 win.
Despite the win, the Mean Green say there's room for improvement.
"I think we had a bit too many errors," said Sarah Haeussler. "We need to limit those errors and execute more on the easy plays. We'll be expecting (UTSA) to play well tomorrow."
The Mean Green are back in action in the second game of the series against UTSA tomorrow at 2 p.m. Follow @MeanGreenVB on Twitter and Instagram and like the team on Facebook for updates throughout the season.
