Friday, February 26
Waco, TX
6 PM
University of North Texas
at
No. 6 Baylor
Photo by: Manny Flores
MGVB travels to No. 6 Baylor to open weekend
2/26/2021 8:10:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
WACO – The North Texas volleyball team will travel to Waco, Texas on Friday for a 6 p.m. showdown with the No. 6 Baylor Bears at the Ferrell Center. Below is what you need to know for tonight's match.
About the Mean Green: After a rough start to 2020-21, the Mean Green (4-5, 1-3) have hit their stride as of late by winning three of the last four matches. Most recently, North Texas defeated a 25-3 Texas State team on Monday by a score of 3-0 (25-22, 25-27, 25-22) in what was arguably the Mean Green's best performance of the season.
North Texas will be looking for its first-ever win against a Top 10 team and its first win against a ranked program since a win over No. 25 Western Kentucky on Nov. 9, 2017.
Friday night's match at Baylor will be the first of three nonconference matches against Big 12 opponents for the Mean Green. North Texas will host Oklahoma on March 4 and Texas Tech on March 17 at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
The UNT defense has been stellar throughout the last two weeks. The Mean Green are second in C-USA with 16.30 digs-per-set, and in the past three matches UNT leads the conference with 19.67 digs-per-set. North Texas recorded 12 blocks in just three sets in the win over Texas State on Monday. The Mean Green's 35 blocks in the last three matches are the most in a three-match span since the opening three games of the 2019 season.
Up on the front row, junior Sarah Haeussler has been a force to be reckoned with. The junior middle blocker leads all of Conference USA with 42 total blocks and ranks third with 1.20 blocks-per-set. Haeussler has surpassed five blocks in each of the last four matches and tallied seven blocks in just three sets during the win over Texas State. Haeussler has also performed well on the offensive side of the net, posting a team-leading .358 attack percentage.
Mean Green leaders: Rhett Robinson leads the team with 137 kills on the season, which ranks second in Conference USA. Robinson also averages 3.91 kills-per-set, which ranks fifth out of the entire league. Kaliegh Skopal leads the Mean Green with 314 assists. Barbara Martin led the Mean Green with 11 kills in the win over Texas State and ranks second on the team with 103 kills in 2020-21.
Aleeyah Galdeira has been the anchor of a stout UNT back row. Galdeira is second in C-USA with 150 digs and ranks third with 4.55 digs-per-set. Galdeira, who is from Waimanalo, Hawaii, has also done her part on the offensive end with 30 assists.
Milestones to look for: Galdeira is just 18 digs away from 500 career digs. The sophomore would become the fourth-fastest in program history to reach 500 digs.
Scouting the Bears: Baylor (13-3, 13-3 Big 12) has been ranked No. 6 in the AVCA Top 25 poll since the beginning of the 2021 calendar year.
This will be Baylor's first match in the spring portion of the 2020-21 season. The Big 12 Conference played its regular season in fall 2020. The Bears went 13-3 in Big 12 play and sit in second place as the season transitions to the spring. In Baylor's last matches on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, the Bears took down No. 10 Kansas State twice.
Senior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley leads the Bears and currently sits in second place on Baylor's all-time career kills leaderboard. Pressley broke the Baylor record for kills in the rally-scoring era and sits just 535 kills shy of Elisha Polk for the all-time school record.
Series history: Baylor leads the all-time series 20-8 dating back to the first meeting in 1979. The Mean Green have a 2-10 record when they meet in Waco, a 3-8 record in Denton and a 3-2 record at neutral sites. North Texas has dropped the last four matchups against Baylor, and the Mean Green's last win over the Bears came in 2012.
The last time these two teams met up was at the Ferrell Center in 2018, with the Bears defeating the Mean Green 1-3 (17-25, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25).
Where to Watch: The match at Baylor will be streamed on ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=f9e570c2-c2eb-4288-b591-e29ee494f781).
Up Next: North Texas returns back to Denton for C-USA play against UTEP on Sunday, Feb. 28 and Monday, March 1. Both matches against UTEP are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
About the Mean Green: After a rough start to 2020-21, the Mean Green (4-5, 1-3) have hit their stride as of late by winning three of the last four matches. Most recently, North Texas defeated a 25-3 Texas State team on Monday by a score of 3-0 (25-22, 25-27, 25-22) in what was arguably the Mean Green's best performance of the season.
North Texas will be looking for its first-ever win against a Top 10 team and its first win against a ranked program since a win over No. 25 Western Kentucky on Nov. 9, 2017.
Friday night's match at Baylor will be the first of three nonconference matches against Big 12 opponents for the Mean Green. North Texas will host Oklahoma on March 4 and Texas Tech on March 17 at the North Texas Volleyball Center.
The UNT defense has been stellar throughout the last two weeks. The Mean Green are second in C-USA with 16.30 digs-per-set, and in the past three matches UNT leads the conference with 19.67 digs-per-set. North Texas recorded 12 blocks in just three sets in the win over Texas State on Monday. The Mean Green's 35 blocks in the last three matches are the most in a three-match span since the opening three games of the 2019 season.
Up on the front row, junior Sarah Haeussler has been a force to be reckoned with. The junior middle blocker leads all of Conference USA with 42 total blocks and ranks third with 1.20 blocks-per-set. Haeussler has surpassed five blocks in each of the last four matches and tallied seven blocks in just three sets during the win over Texas State. Haeussler has also performed well on the offensive side of the net, posting a team-leading .358 attack percentage.
Mean Green leaders: Rhett Robinson leads the team with 137 kills on the season, which ranks second in Conference USA. Robinson also averages 3.91 kills-per-set, which ranks fifth out of the entire league. Kaliegh Skopal leads the Mean Green with 314 assists. Barbara Martin led the Mean Green with 11 kills in the win over Texas State and ranks second on the team with 103 kills in 2020-21.
Aleeyah Galdeira has been the anchor of a stout UNT back row. Galdeira is second in C-USA with 150 digs and ranks third with 4.55 digs-per-set. Galdeira, who is from Waimanalo, Hawaii, has also done her part on the offensive end with 30 assists.
Milestones to look for: Galdeira is just 18 digs away from 500 career digs. The sophomore would become the fourth-fastest in program history to reach 500 digs.
Scouting the Bears: Baylor (13-3, 13-3 Big 12) has been ranked No. 6 in the AVCA Top 25 poll since the beginning of the 2021 calendar year.
This will be Baylor's first match in the spring portion of the 2020-21 season. The Big 12 Conference played its regular season in fall 2020. The Bears went 13-3 in Big 12 play and sit in second place as the season transitions to the spring. In Baylor's last matches on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, the Bears took down No. 10 Kansas State twice.
Senior outside hitter Yossiana Pressley leads the Bears and currently sits in second place on Baylor's all-time career kills leaderboard. Pressley broke the Baylor record for kills in the rally-scoring era and sits just 535 kills shy of Elisha Polk for the all-time school record.
Series history: Baylor leads the all-time series 20-8 dating back to the first meeting in 1979. The Mean Green have a 2-10 record when they meet in Waco, a 3-8 record in Denton and a 3-2 record at neutral sites. North Texas has dropped the last four matchups against Baylor, and the Mean Green's last win over the Bears came in 2012.
The last time these two teams met up was at the Ferrell Center in 2018, with the Bears defeating the Mean Green 1-3 (17-25, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25).
Where to Watch: The match at Baylor will be streamed on ESPN+ (https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=f9e570c2-c2eb-4288-b591-e29ee494f781).
Up Next: North Texas returns back to Denton for C-USA play against UTEP on Sunday, Feb. 28 and Monday, March 1. Both matches against UTEP are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB/OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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